The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 3 of 15)

He must be an economist.

p>Tell him good work. br> -- Jim Klein br> San Francisco, California /p> p> PEACE BUILDER br> Re: Robert T. McLean's Change Is Slow at Turtle Bay : /p>

I do believe it is important that special reports have depth to their viewpoints. Robert McLean's report published on the next UN Secretary-General seems full of recycled media comment from the recent past.

I did a Google search on the candidates and was vastly impressed with the substance and track record of the internationally acclaimed peace builder Jayantha Dhanapala who was the Global Security Institute's first recipient of the "Alan Cranston Peace Award" in 2002; and was also honoured with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the Centre for Non-Proliferation Studies of the Monterey Institute for International Studies in USA, to name just a few.. He serves on the boards of several international bodies such as the International Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission; the Governing Board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute; the International Advisory Group of the ICRC; the UN University; and serves as the Honorary President of the International Peace Bureau. He has also authored several books and articles on disarmament. Above all he seems to have been one of the few UN insiders who have a track record of delivery and impact despite the monolithic inefficiencies and systematic failure of the UN his track record as UN under-secretary-general for disarmament is still the most effective to date. His groundbreaking gender mainstreaming initiatives was another UN first.

p>My question: is the media missing something here by not doing its homework and looking beyond the obvious? To me the big issue is: can an insider reform the UN? The argument goes that you need someone who knows the systems (warts and all!) who can clean it up. If that premise holds, then Dhanapala is a clear front runner. If it's an outsider, no clear option appears. This is not a case of Hobson's choice, but the best man and the right place at the right time. The man's professionalism is best seen by the quality and substance of his

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