The United Nations is in the hot seat 

Caught in the crossfire of all the conflicts swirling around the world right now is one organization, the United Nations — a place where representatives from warring countries sit in the same room to argue their case. 

For the U.N, this has been a busy week. 

In an emergency meeting of the Security Council following the Iranian attack on Israel, the United States warned that “Iran will be held responsible” for any further military actions. 

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “crimes against humanity” may have been committed in Sudan. 

Cholera is spreading in Yemen, according to the United Nations. 

And there still remains work to be done in Ukraine, Gaza and Haiti and other hot spots. Just this week, a U.N. Security Council committee was unable to agree on a draft resolution by the Palestinian Authority to get full membership in the United Nations.  

Running the U.N is a hard job, given the sheer volume of nations who belong: 193. 

And so, at this unique moment, it is worth reading a new book that provides a look at one man who led the United Nations for a decade of international challenges, from 1996-2006: Kofi Annan. 

“Kofi Annan and Global Leadership at the United Nations,” by Oxford University Press, traces the unlikely journey of a boy from Ghana who became the first black African to lead the United Nations and the first U.N. staff member to rise to that position. 

The book is a profile in leadership at the time when leadership is sorely needed. 

Annan inherited a U.N. in financial crisis. Close to bankruptcy and in dire need of reform, it fell to Annan to persuade the U.S. Congress to authorize payment of America’s huge arrears. One wonders if that would be possible today, with a dysfunctional Congress still debating aid to Israel and Ukraine. 

During his two terms as secretary-general, Kofi Annan defended the U.N. as a vital organization for maintaining international peace and security, promoting development, and advancing human rights — all issues that remain front and center today, but in an era of doubt about the role of institutions to handle multiple crises, and with America no longer a sole superpower. 

From the outset, Annan understood the seriousness of issues like climate change, which he called possibly “the greatest challenge” of a generation. He used the bully pulpit of the United Nations to advocate for policies that would prevent an environmental catastrophe, including the Kyoto Protocol, ratified by 55 countries accounting for 55 percent of global emissions. Amid all the world’s troubles, climate change still isn’t commanding, in my view, a central place in our daily discussion. 

But consider this: It was on Kofi Annan’s watch that the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, occurred on that cloudless day in New York, making terrorism a top issue for the United Nations. While many countries wanted “revenge,” Annan kept his eye on the protection of human rights, creating the Human Rights Council in 2006. As we watch retribution and retaliation in the Middle East, and the grave situation facing Palestinians in Gaza, it is critical that we pay heed to human rights. 

Annan believed that to live in peaceful times requires prevention of conflict, not just reaction to it — especially the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities. He understood that awareness of why conflicts happen needed to infuse the United Nations with strategies to get ahead of them — no easy feat, with a highly bureaucratic body that often has gaps between its words and deeds. 

On Kofi Annan’s watch, the United Nations was on the hook to respond to war. 

On March 24, 1999, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began an intensive bombing campaign to stop the ethnic cleansing and atrocities being perpetrated by Serbs against Kosovar Albanians — actions taken without U.N. Security Council authorization. Despite backlash from Russia and China, Annan stood by the notion of responding to these crimes against humanity. 

Leadership requires self-reflection. Annan’s leadership was best exemplified in his willingness to take responsibility for failures, like the U.N.’s role in the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia and the Rwandan genocide. He never ran away from accountability and transparency — traits that would serve today’s leaders well. 

In his last speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Annan said, “What matters is that the strong, as well as the weak, agree to be bound by the same rules, to treat each other with the same respect. What matters is that all people accept the need to listen, to compromise, to take each other’s view into account. What matters is that we come together, not at cross-purposes but with a common purpose: to shape their common destiny.” 

Kofi Annan was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, jointly with the United Nations for “their work for a better organized and more peaceful world.”  

Such goals are worth pursuing today, but we need good leaders to pursue them. 

Tara D. Sonenshine is former U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs and senior fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.