Ban Navigates U.N. As Outsider ; Tenure Began Ambitiously; Jury Is Still Out After Missteps

Summary

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After serving less than one month in office, U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon began circulating a plan to improve the unwieldy peacekeeping department: He would slice it in two, establishing one office to administer the 18 field missions and another to make political and military decisions.

To the newly arrived secretary-general and his team, the plan seemed sensible and overdue. But some member states saw this as a usurpation of the General Assembly's power. It was up to member states to decide how to spend money and allocate posts; did Mr. Ban not understand that his administration and the U.N. bureaucracy existed to implement their decisions?

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Extract

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Ban Navigates U.N. As Outsider ; Tenure Began Ambitiously; Jury Is Still Out After Missteps

Faced with an unexpected crisis, Mr. Ban deployed his advisers and trusted ambassadors to make amends with the regional and economic blocs that effectively control the world body. After a month of contrition and concession, ambassador...

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