The man Boutrous-Ghali
The absence of war and military conflicts amongst States does not in itself ensure international peace and security. The non-military sources of instability in the economic, social, humanitarian and ecological fields have become threats to peace and security. — Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali
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A former United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali who died recently in his home country Egypt of broken pelvis was a one-time UN boss who stoked controvery during his tenure.
The 93-year-old former topmost diplomat, whose death was received with mixed reaction, led the world’s body for a five-year term, becoming the first
Arab to attain that position and the first general-secretary to be denied a second term. His term was marred by controversies over several world crises, including the break-up of Yugoslavia, Somali political unrest; and the Rwandan genocide. But his response to his critics in his masterpiece report to the UN titled, An Agenda for peace, has become an academic reference point for students of post-conflict and conflict-resolution.
As UN Secretary-General from 1992 to 1996, Boutrous-Ghali sharply divided world opinion over his controversial positions in respect to the crises.
An astute academic, he had taught in many institutions both in Europe and his home country, Egypt. In addition, Mr Boutros-Ghali has over 100 publications and numerous articles to his credit — largely on regional and international affairs, law and diplomacy, and political science.
Early life and academia
Boutrous-Ghali was born into a Coptic Christian family on November 14, 1922. His grandfather had been prime minister of Egypt from 1908 until his assassination in 1910 while the father, Yusuf, at one time served as finance minister. At a young age, Boutros-Ghali learned about Western culture.
His sophistication and fluency in English and French, in addition to Arabic, can be traced to his upbringing in an upper-class family and his formal schooling.
After completing a law degree in 1946 at Cairo University in Egypt, he spent the next four years in France, earning diplomas in higher studies in public law and in economics, as well as a doctorate in international law from Paris University in 1949 before receiving his PhD in international law from the University of Paris and diploma in international relations from the Sciences Po in 1949.
Boutrous-Ghali participated in many international conferences and delivered guest lectures at major universities abroad.
Political career
It is no surprise that Boutros-Ghali rose to become an astute statesman in his country. This feat was achieved probably because of the political family he came from. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Arab Socialist Union in the 70s, and was one of the longest-serving public figures in the Egypt, having served as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 1977 until early 1991 and later became deputy prime minister for international affairs.
UN career
Boutros-Ghali was one of 14 candidates for the post of Secretary-General, but won on the first ballot of the Security Council and took office as the sixth holder of the world’s top job on New Year's Day of 1992.
His term coincided with a number of momentous international events, among them the Rwandan genocide, which UN peacekeepers on the scene were unable to prevent, leading to the deaths of almost one million people.
One of the difficult tasks during Boutrous-Ghali’s tenure was dealing with the crisis of the Yugoslav wars after the disintegration of Yugoslavia. His reputation became entangled in the larger controversies over the effectiveness of the UN and the role of the United States in the UN.
Some Somalis believed he was responsible for an escalation of the Somalia crisis by undertaking a personal vendetta against Mohamed Farrah Aidid and his Habr Gidr clan, favouring their rivals, the Darod, the clan of the former President Mohamed Siad Barre.
As new head of the UN, Boutrous-Ghali viewed the end of the Cold War and the example set during the Persian Gulf War as presenting a historic opportunity for changing the nature of world politics.
Boutros-Ghali used his position at the UN to call on all countries and governments to fulfill the original 1945 UN pledge of a global political system. He held up the United Nations and its various agencies as an organisation that could promote international peace and security, economic development, and human rights through international cooperation.
But on the immediate and more practical level, much of his energy went toward putting the United Nations' own house in order.
An agenda for peace
In a response to a request by the Security Council for an “analysis and recommendation” to strengthen peacemaking and peacekeeping, Boutrous-Ghali presented a report titled, An Agenda for Peace, which outlines the way he felt the UN should respond to conflict in the post-Cold war world.
His recommendations, as analyzed in a three thematic areas, would eventually enhance the UN’s work for peace, in particular, the area of preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peacekeeping.
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One term UN boss and Operation Orient Express
The controversies that confronted Boutrous-Ghali’s administration including his ambitious reform programmes, made his relationship with the United States and other Western governments and even UN military field commanders mired.
Among his controversial reform programmes was making the organisation more efficient and coordinating the efforts of UN workers in New York City and those in Geneva, Switzerland.
In addition, he made sure that the funding of the United Nations would be enough to meet the needs of the increased number and complexity of its missions around the globe and strengthening the commitment of each of the more than 180 member states to the United Nations.
The most important of Boutros-Ghali's goals was to broaden the United Nations' role of peacekeeping. His goal was to ensure greater effectiveness by the time of the United Nations' 50th anniversary in 1995.
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In 1996, 10 Security Council members, led by Egypt, Guinea-Bissau and Botswana, sponsored a resolution backing Boutros-Ghali for a second five-year term.
However, the United States vetoed a second term for him.The Clinton administration drew a plan code-named Operation Orient Express to oust him from office. According to the then US National Security Adviser Richard Clarke's book Against All Enemies, the unofficial title given to a successful pact in 1996. Members of the pact included former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, former government official Michael Sheehand and James Rubin, a former Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, considered Albright’s right-hand man.
The agenda was to reflect the hope that many nations would join the US in removing Boutrous-Ghali from office. “But in the end, the US had to do it alone (with its UN veto) and Sheehan and I had to prevent the President from giving in to pressure from world leaders and extending Boutrous-Ghali’s tenure”, Clarke wrote in his book.
Boutros-Ghali was succeeded by Kofi Annan.
After leaving the United Nations, Boutros-Ghali served with a number of international organisations till 2012.
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He was married to Leia Maria Boutros-Ghali, née Leia Nadler, who was raised in an Egyptian Jewish family in Alexandria and converted to Roman Catholicism as a young woman.
Legacy
Boutrous-Ghali’s legacy has indeed been mixed. His controversial reform programmes, his disagreements with the United States of America and other western powers have made him an unpopular figure during his tenure.
He has been critized for the UN’s failture to prevent the Rwandan massacre and his opposition to NATO’s bombing campaign in Bosnia which was believed to have angered Washington, contributing to his ousting.
“In terms of a positive legacy, Ban Ki-moon, his successor as UN chief, praised the dramatic rise of blue-helmeted peacekeeping under his watch,” noted BBC.
“In a landmark report entitled Agenda for Peace, Boutros-Ghali also emphasized the importance of post-conflict peace-building, which informs a lot of UN thinking to this day,” he added.
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