I know there are many things going on
and competing for today’s headlines. All of them are of great importance. They
concern people at the Turkish-Greek border, people in Idlib, Syria, people sick
with the Covid-19 pandemic, people losing their jobs because of the pandemic’s
tremendous economic impact, young people kept out of their classrooms, and so
on. They also concern big political games, such as the Putin-Erdogan meeting, the
US elections, the Japanese and the fate of this year’s Olympic Games, or the
political crisis in Kabul. But my headline is about the passing away of Javier
Pérez de Cuéllar, the former UN Secretary-General. He was an old-style diplomat
but a very effective one. During his time at the head of the UN the
organization managed to resolve a number of major conflicts and wars. He led an
organization that achieved results and was the glue the Security Council needed
to be able to function. Respected by everyone, he has shown that charisma is
not about being loud and highly visible. Charisma is about persistence, coherence
and principles. That summarizes the Secretary-General he was.
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