These are difficult times for anyone hoping that Secretary-General Ban would forgo the title of world diplomat in chief and instead become a Turtle Bay reformer. Traveling the world, Mr. Ban is too busy even to visit his organization's New York headquarters.
Just before setting off for Paris, London, and Riyadh this week, Mr. Ban made a brief stop in America on Friday. But he didn't tackle such important issues as changing the way corrupt U.N. departments operate or making long-delayed key U.N. appointments. Instead he flew to Wyoming to attend something called the "Global Insight Summit," organized by the United Nations and the Jackson Hole Film Institute.
Here's an unsolicited piece of global insight: The credibility of the United Nations is on the wane, and not only in parts of Wyoming not populated by indie filmmakers. Those seeking to free themselves from the yoke of tyrants in Iran, Zimbabwe, and Burma must wonder what good can come from Mr. Ban's recent meetings with presidents Ahmadinejad and Mugabe, and Senior General Than Shwe.
U.N. secretaries-general meet. That is what they do for a living. And any American unconcerned about the prospects of face-to-face, unconditional "tough diplomacy" with thugs should study their pitiful record.
The best possible outcome from Mr. Ban's meeting with Mr. Mugabe last week would be the dictator's agreeing to allow a U.N. envoy, Haile Menkerios, into Zimbabwe on the eve of its June 27 runoff presidential election. A former Eritrean ambassador to the United Nations, Mr. Menkerios is a friend of the South African government, which maintains close relations with Mr. Mugabe. But after meeting with Mr. Ban in Rome, Mr. Mugabe went after his chief rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, and his supporters, using the police and the courts to harass them, and setting up his next stolen election. Armed with renewed international credibility, courtesy of the United Nations, Mr. Mugabe also quickly moved to arrest American and British diplomats.
Mr. Ahmadinejad basked in the glory of a meeting with Mr. Ban last week, as well. His wisecracks abut the Jewish state's imminent demise went unchallenged, by Mr. Ban or by anyone else in Europe. And what does Mr. Ban have to show for his Rome talks with a man whom even Pope Benedict XVI has studiously avoided seeing? The best that can be said is that after meeting with Mr. Ahmadinejad, Mr. Ban can legitimately reject an invitation to visit Tehran, where a meeting with the regime's mullahs would damage the United Nations's image even further.
