Power of diplomacy

Step lightly but step firm
By Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary-General of UN

Before I became the UN’s Secretary-General, I was an Asian diplomat. While I was foreign minister of the Republic of Korea, my Government and I strongly advocated détente with the North. When some in the world called for sanctions and punitive action, South Korea pushed for dialogue.

That requires listening as well as speaking. It means sticking to principles, but also attempting to understand the other side, however irrational or intransigent it may sometimes appear.

This remains my style at the United Nations. I believe in the power of diplomacy and engagement. I prioritize dialogue over debate or declaration. Above all, I seek results.

We are doing that now in Myanmar. My Special Adviser, Ibrahim Gambari, has been back in Yangon. His brief is to be the honest broker, the facilitator of a dialogue between government and opposition leaders, particularly Aung San Suu Kyi. The goal is for Myanmar’s Government to release all detained students and demonstrators, engage with the opposition, move toward a more democratic society, and rejoin the international community.

This brand of diplomacy is not quick or easy. There is seldom applause, and often no outward evidence of movement. It is a quiet, painstaking slog behind the scenes. You have to work the phones, cajole world leaders to do this or that. It is a symphony – often not a very harmonious one – of small steps that you hope will lead to something greater.

You expect nothing. You can only keep trying, keep pushing. Maybe it works, maybe not. Then you try some more, in a different way, aiming all the while for some small progress that makes the next step possible.

We are at this point in Darfur. I have spent hundreds of hours working behind closed doors with various parties to the conflict – Sudan’s Government, rebel leaders, neighbouring countries, and African Union partners. Meanwhile, we are pushing ahead with one of the most complex peacekeeping operations in our history, feeding and protecting hundreds of thousands of displaced people, and sponsoring difficult peace negotiations in Libya.

But even as I push my brand of “Asian” diplomacy, it can sometimes feel a bit lonely to be an Asian at the international community’s diplomatic roundtable.

We Asians inhabit the world’s largest continent, with the world’s largest population and its fastest-growing economies. We have a rich history and ancient cultures. Yet our role in international affairs is far less than it could, or should be.

Asia’s contribution to the UN, though significant, could be greater. Its humanitarian assistance, to put it politely, is less than generous. We are the only continent where regional integration and common markets have not taken hold.

Latin Americans and North Americans dream of creating a free-trade zone. Europeans speak of building a United States of Europe. The African Union aspires to become a United States of Africa. Why no United States of Asia?

There are many reasons why Asia is different: history, cultural diversity, unresolved territorial and political disputes, a lack of multilateral experience, and the predominance of one or two centers of power. But the main reason is that we have not tried.
Asia does not do itself justice. As an Asian Secretary-General, I hope to see this change. I hope to see an Asia that is both better integrated and more internationally engaged.

I expect particularly great things of my fellow Koreans, a remarkable people who have come into their own. I hope to see Korea assume more responsibility in the world, commensurate with its growing economic clout – especially in the area of development, one of the three pillars of the UN Charter. Koreans need to step up, speak out, and do more, and that should start with more generous official development assistance.

Koreans have already shown their penchant for multi-lateral diplomacy and trouble shooting through the six-party talks. Now, they, and Asians at large, need to bring both their skills and their success to bear on the most pressing global issues of the day.

This is not just my hope, it is also Asia’s obligation.

(Ban Ki-moon is Secretary-General of the United Nations.)

 

http://www.bahraintribune.com/ArticleDetail.asp?CategoryId=4&ArticleId=191705

World Focus on Burma (22 Feb 08)

1. Back, and better (worse?) than ever
   Taipei Times, Taiwan - Burma? But why not Burma? (In this movie, no one calls it Myanmar.) As a precredit montage of actual news clips reminds us, the military government of that …
2. Planet’s Burma guide ‘unethical’
   BBC News, UK - The TUC has called for a boycott of Lonely Planet guidebooks until the Burma edition is withdrawn from sale. The trade union umbrella organisation says …
3. UN Envoy Hopes for Burma Visit in Early March to Discuss Elections
   Voice of America - He hopes to drum up regional support to press for democratic reforms in Burma, which is also called Myanmar. The military has brutally ruled Burma for over …
4. Burma’s constitution attacked
   Financial Times, UK - By John Aglionby in Jakarta and Amy Kazmin in Bangkok Indonesia became the first big developing country yesterday to criticise Burma’s draft constitution, …
5. Flexing muscles in the Year of the Rat?
   San Francisco Chronicle, USA -… it was China who facilitated two visits to Burma (which China knows as Myanmar) by Ibrahim Gambari, special envoy of the UN secretary general, …
6. Explosion in Thai north injures 22 garbage collectors
   Xinhua, China - The explosion happened at 8:45 am (0145 GMT) Friday at the dumping site in Mae Sot Municipality in Tak Province, which borders Myanmar, news network The …
7. Working for a cause profitable, inspiring
   Akron Beacon Journal, OH - … teaching young people how to safely use technology to spread the word of human-rights violations against Buddhist monks in neighboring Myanmar (Burma). …
8. Gambari expected to return first week of March
   Mizzima.com, India -
   The United Nations reports that Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, will likely make his third visit to Burma since the Saffron Revolution in early …
9. Gambari plans return visit to Burma in March
   Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway -
   “The authorities in Myanmar made some announcements that are significant in terms of timelines for the road map but what is important for us is to work …
10. Myanmar refugees find peace in downtown Waterbury More coming …
    Waterbury Republican American, CT -
    I am so scared the ethnic people in Myanmar will not exist any more. We will be extinct.” For a half-century, first as Burma and now Myanmar, a succession …
11. Costa Rican leader stands behind Suu Kyi
    Mizzima.com, India -
    Costa Rican Nobel Laureate Oscar Arias has added his name to the nine original signatories of an appeal calling on an international arms embargo on Burma. …
12. Thai PM vows “rigorous” war on drugs despite outcry
    Boston Globe, United States -
    … supplier of heroin from the Golden Triangle where it meets Myanmar and Laos, was awash with methamphetamines made across the border in the former Burma. …
13. UN Envoy’s mission impossible
    Mizzima.com, India -
    Bangkok – United Nations Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, is expected to return to the country at the end of next week to discuss the military …
14. ‘Genetic corridor’ From India to Vietnam Needed to save tigers
    Wildlife Extra, UK -
    The Wildlife Conservation Society and the Panthera Foundation have announced plans to establish a 5000 mile-long ‘genetic corridor’ from Bhutan to Burma …
15. Indonesia supports elections in Myanmar
    Xinhua, China -
    22 (Xinhua) — Indonesia fully supports Myanmar’s plan to hold general elections in 2010 and pins hope the democratic process will run transparently and …
16. Indonesian president meets UN envoy on Myanmar
    Xinhua, China -
    22 (Xinhua) — Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday met with UN special envoy for Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari, who is on an Asian tour …
17. Defiant Mon Celebrate Their National Day
    The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand -

    

    By LAWI WENG Burma’s Mon people are celebrating their national day on Friday, despite attempts by the military regime to discourage such displays of …

18. Junta Targeting Burma’s Press
    The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand -
    Unlike some publications, the Myanmar Nation didn’t have a cozy relationship with the junta’s villainous Information Minister Kyaw Hsan. …
19. Pro-government leafleting in Insein township
    Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway -
    … for trying to run similar campaigns, the pro-government 88 Generation Students (Union of Myanmar) received assistance and security from local officials. …
20. UN Envoy Frustrated With Myanmar
    The Associated Press -
    JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A UN envoy said Friday he is frustrated with Myanmar’s slow progress toward democracy, but is hopeful that Nobel Peace Prize …
21. Essar to explore Burma’s onshore gas field
    Mizzima.com, India -
    … Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), the spokesperson added. Essar is one of the three Indian companies engaged in oil and gas exploration in Burma. …
22. UN urges all-inclusive polls in Myanmar
    PRESS TV, Iran -
    Ibrahim Gambari, the UN envoy to Myanmar, says that the country should follow an inclusive process towards multi-party elections in 2010. …
23. UN envoy to bring up Suu Kyi poll ban with Myanmar
    | JAKARTA: United Nations envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari said Thursday that he would raise the issue of Aung San Suu Kyi being banned from 2010 elections when he visits the military regime as early as next mo…
24. Ban on Suu Kyi shatters hopes for Myanmar polls
    | BANGKOK: Myanmar’s sudden decision to bar Aung San Suu Kyi from planned elections shatters any shard of credibility for the ruling junta’s self-proclaimed “road map” to democracy, analysts said Wednesday. | T…
25. Brunei, Laos, Malaysia ratify Asean charter
    | SINGAPORE: Brunei, Laos and Malaysia have joined Singapore in ratifying the Association of Southeast Asian Nations charter that provides for the creation of a human rights body, diplomats said Wednesday. | Al…
26. Local Health Department Gets Advice From Feds in Dealing with Burmese Costs
    | The Allen County Health Department hopes to get some guidance from the federal government on how to offset costs associated with an exploding Burmese population in Fort Wayne. The subject was addressed at an …
27. Rambo: the brawn identity is back!
    | RAMBO | Directed by SYLVESTER STALLONE | Certificate 18 | SOMEONE actually found the time to tot up the body count in this fourth – and, one trusts, final – appearance of Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, the…