UN's nowhere man
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is a busy man. From this week through to next Friday, he has a packed travelling schedule that began in Japan and takes in Myanmar, Italy, Ireland and Switzerland. He has weighed in on all manner of issues, from North Korea's nuclear proliferation to the world body's presence in Georgia. This has not been an especially extraordinary time for him; the midway point of his five-year term on Wednesday should therefore have been one for reflection on achievements.
Nothing of the sort happened. Instead, the occasion passed unnoticed. There was good reason for the silence: Mr Ban has done nothing of note in the past 21/2 years.
This is not to personally denigrate the former South Korean foreign minister. He takes the job seriously. When the situation warrants, he speaks; when his presence is necessary at a meeting, he attends. The problem is that no one listens.
His irrelevance is easy to see. He represents the world as it stood in 1945. The victors of the second world war put together the UN with themselves at the helm to solve problems as they saw fit. Balances of power have shifted and global thinking has evolved.
Mr Ban was appointed secretary general under a system that, by unwritten tradition, rotates through the world's regions; it was Asia's turn. The UN General Assembly makes the choice, but it does so on the recommendation of the Security Council. A candidate emerges from a non-transparent process of nominations, discussions, wrangling and straw polls. The council's permanent members, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, have their usual power of veto.
Washington's rocky relations with Mr Ban's predecessor, Kofi Annan, prompted it to search for someone considered non-combative and pliant to US wishes. The South Korean was a perfect choice. During his years of service with his country's Foreign Ministry, he had a reputation for playing by the rules, earning the nickname 'The Bureaucrat'. Then-US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice was given the task of ensuring he was chosen - a simple job in light of the US being the UN's top funder and most influential member.