The Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat has interviewed Ban Ki-moon, and the English transcript of the Secretary-General’s comments is powerful stuff:
When was the last time you got really angry?
There were a few moments.
Like? I want to get to know you. People don’t know you well—Ban Ki-Moon the Secretary General or Ban Ki-Moon the man.
There were a few moments when I was so angry… First of all when things were not moving as I expected and as I have urged in the situation in Gaza. The humanitarian sufferings, the UN humanitarian assistance were not delivering properly… people were suffering from lack of water, electricity. They were not able to move and I was very angry and I expressed this emotion when I talked to Israeli authorities.
Sometimes I was angry if my reform agenda was not moving as quickly as possible. There was some bureaucracy within– inherently embedded through some resistance in the agencies among the staff. Then, you know, I exploded, myself.
What do you do when you get angry?
Oh, I express my anger.
Do you shout?
Yes, I shout it. (Turning to his spokeswoman Michel Montas) As you have witnessed many times.
On a personal level, have you been angry recently? You know we all get angry with our children, our family, our brothers or sisters…
I don’t have any such occasions when I was angry with my own family members. It’s just, you know, I am disciplined. And my family members are also very disciplined and show respect for all these rules. There are some rules and some relationships you have to keep. With others, I get, of course, angry.
Learning this, the interviewer goes out of his way to piss off the SG…
Do you get upset or does it bother you that people say the UN has become less important, less influential and is losing it’s impact and that one of the reasons—one of the main reasons—is Ban Ki-Moon, is the office of the Secretary General.
This maybe so; or maybe not so. That’s one unfair treatment that I am receiving but I accept it as a fact of life.
Why do you accept it? If you don’t think that this is true why do you accept it?
This is a totally different world. You are living in a totally different world. It’s the twenty-first century. It’s not like 1945, 1960, even 1980, even 1990. The role of the UN could have been almost absolute when this UN was created 60 years ago but it’s not absolute. There are so many actors in this world and there are so many problems and challenges. During the Cold War or the early era of our world there were some clear plus, and the number of challenges were expected and not much. But these days with the globalization process and with the spread of extremism and terrorism, this world is completely different. Therefore, the SG of the UN is not SG of 1945, etc.
What is the UN now, what is the role of the Secretary General now?
This is clearly the universal organization. I think (it is) the only universal organization. You have many (now)–European Union, African Union–who can play regional roles. There were not such regional organizations in the past. In the past it was only the UN. Now you have so many organizations. Now you must change and understand the different paradigms. There are many actors and many global challenges. Climate change, have you ever seen climate change, or have you seen the spread of diseases of HIV/AIDS in 1950, 1960? These are multiples crisis, therefore you must understand it is very much unfair criticism against me. I think I have been working in the hardest way–than anybody in the past. Even then my time is very limited and resources are limited.
But it looks like it is a great academic institution that does research. But people are looking for the UN in a different role.
Again you must change this perception; you must change your understanding. You must think that it is now thirty years later than when you started your career as a journalist.
At that time the UN was very important. Thirty years ago every political issue was at the UN being decided.
If I claim that this is the only organization that can exercise all of the powers that can resolve all the problems, I think I may be wrong. So I do not act that way. I am based on my judgment, firmly grounded on the earth.
