The Un Secretary-General and Moral Authority: Ethics and Religion in International Leadership

381 Pages·2007·1.6 MB·English

by  Kent J. Kille

The UN SecreTary-GeNeral
aNd Moral aUThoriTy

The UN SecreTary-GeNeral
aNd Moral aUThoriTy
Ethics and Religion in International Leadership
kent j. kille, editor
GeorGeTowN UNiverSiTy PreSS washington, d.c.
Georgetown University Press, washington, d.c. www.press.georgetown.edu
© 2007 by Georgetown University Press. all rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
library of congress cataloging-in-Publication data
The UN Secretary-General and moral authority : ethics and religion in international
leadership / edited by Kent J. Kille.
p. cm.
includes bibliographical references and index.
iSBN-13: 978-1-58901-180-9 (alk. paper)
1. international relations — Moral and ethical aspects. 2. Political leadership — Moral
and ethical aspects. 3. United Nations. Secretary-General. i. Kille, Kent J.
JZ1306.U55 2007
172.4 — dc22
2007011204
This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the
american National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed library Materials.
14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
First printing
Printed in the United States of america
To the vision of Harold Guetzkow and
In memory of Charles S. McCoy

coNTeNTS
acknowledgments ix
introduction
kent j. kille 1
1 Moral authority and the UN Secretary-General’s
ethical Framework
kent j. kille 7
2 Seeking Balance: The Secretary-General as
Normative Negotiator
dorothy v. jones 39
3 The house That Trygve lie Built: ethical challenges as
the First UN Secretary-General
james p. muldoon jr. 67
4 The UN charter, the New Testament, and Psalms:
The Moral authority of dag hammarskjöld
alynna j. lyon 111
5 U Thant: Buddhism in action
a. walter dorn 143
6 an ethical enigma: another look at Kurt waldheim
michael t. kuchinsky 187
7 religion, ethics, and reality: a Study of
Javier Perez de cuellar
barbara ann rieffer-flanagan
and david p. forsythe 229
8 a realist in the Utopian city: Boutros Boutros-Ghali’s
ethical Framework and its impact
anthony f. lang jr. 265
9 Politics and values at the United Nations:
Kofi annan’s Balancing act
courtney b. smith 299
10 The Secular Pope: insights on the
UN Secretary-General and Moral authority
kent j. kille 337
contributors 355
index 361
acKNowledGMeNTS
The first and most important acknowledgment is to harold Guetzkow.
dr. Guetzkow initiated the project that produced this volume and ensured
generous funding that supported research, travel, and meetings. he
stressed the need for a detailed examination of the religious and moral
values of the UN secretaries-general while encouraging us to present
the study in a manner that would be accessible to a range of interested
readers. The authors of this volume hope we have been able to live up to
his impressive vision.
The initial guidelines for this study were developed by the editor in
conjunction with dr. Guetzkow and the late charles Mccoy at the cen-
ter for ethics and Social Policy of the Graduate Theological Union in
Berkeley, california. we were also assisted at this early juncture by an
advisory committee consisting of edwin epstein, Mark Juergensmeyer,
Jack Sawyer, courtney Smith, robert Traer, and william Trampleasure.
The first full meeting of the contributors was held in august 2004 at
Seton hall University’s John c. whitehead School of diplomacy and
international relations. as the research progressed, follow-up meetings
and paper presentations took place at the annual meetings of the inter-
national Studies association–Southern region in 2004, the international
Studies association in 2005 and 2006, the academic council on the United
Nations System in 2005 and 2006, and the american Political Science asso-
ciation in 2006, as well as the centre for the Study of religion and Politics
at the University of St. andrews in 2005.
although they are directly referenced in the relevant chapters, we
want to offer our great thanks to those close to the secretaries-general
who agreed to be interviewed for this volume — Guri lie Zeckendorf,
Thant Myint-U, rafee ahmed, diego cordovez, James Jonah, albert
rohan, Samir Sambar, Paul wee, Jean-Marc coicaud, Michael doyle,
Patrick hayford, robert orr, Kieran Prendergast, lamin Sise, and Gillian
Sorensen — as well as those individuals who wished to remain anonymous
but who provided important information.
ix