Wither the United Nations
dnorris10 February 14th, 2006
James Sutterlin, Distinguished Fellow in UN Studies at Yale University as well as director of research and adjunct professor at the Long Island University Center for the Study of International Organization, will address the question, “Whither the United Nations?” at the next Great Decisions lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at The College of Wooster. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Gault Recital Hall of Scheide Music Center (525 E. University St.), beginning at 7:30 p.m.
“In September 2003, Kofi Annan declared that the United Nations found itself ‘at a fork in the road’ in the face of critical global challenges,” said Sutterlin. “The Secretary-General insisted, and practically every country including the U.S., agreed that to meet these challenges the UN required fundamental reforms. The challenges facing the UN include the U.S. policy of preemptive defense and the Iraq War, terrorism, genocide and crimes against humanity, weapons of mass destruction, extreme poverty, and pandemic disease.
“The United States places great emphasis on administrative reform,” added Sutterlin. “The oil-for-food program has centered attention on administrative failures of the UN. The program needs to be seen in perspective. The policies that the UN is following and the reforms that it hopes to introduce are based on the interconnectedness of economic development, democratization (human rights), and strong international organizations (international law). In academia this is referred to as the neo-Kantian triangle. By whatever name, it would seem consonant with U.S. national interests.”
Sutterlin’s career includes many diplomatic posts for the State Department as well as the directorship of the Executive Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations. He has authored several books on the experience of the United Nations, including its efforts in Iraq. He also co-authored The United Nations in Iraq: Defanging the Viper, a book about the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. A member of the UHN Secretariat for 13 years, Sutterlin has also held diplomatic posts in Washington, Germany, and Japan.