The Five Virtues of Kofi Annan

Drawing on his days in the classrooms of M.I.T. and on the playing fields of Ghana, the U.N. leader pursues a moral vision for enforcing world peace

Se eye ndzeye pa enum yi a, na eye barima (Gather the five virtues, then you are a man). --Fante tribal proverb

I. ENYIMNYAM (DIGNITY)

"Once my father did something that quite shocked me." Kofi Annan is talking. He is nestled in the back of a royal-blue Mercedes, part of a six-car motorcade flying along the streets of Accra, Ghana. Air conditioning purrs inside the car. Outside, motorcycle outriders scream past, inches from the doors, sirens singing as they race ahead. Annan shakes his head and gives the tiniest of sighs. "I asked them to skip the outriders. I asked for...

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