Kofi Annan and Global Leadership at the United Nations

Kofi Annan was the most significant and influential Secretary-General of the United Nations. Kofi Annan and Global Leadership at the United Nations is a study of how Annan conceived his role as Secretary-General and exercised global leadership at a turbulent period in world affairs.

Williams discusses the challenges he faced during his tenure from 1997 to 2006 and how he dealt with them. The volume sheds light on the importance of leadership for the performance of a global institution, and examines such issues as Conflict Prevention, Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding, the Millennium Development Goals, HIV/AIDS, the Responsibility to Protect, Human Rights, Climate Change, and Migration. It provides insight into how Annan led the UN during several international crises, including the terrorist attacks of 9/11, conflicts in Kosovo and East Timor, and the war in Iraq. It illustrates how he built partnerships with non-state actors, including nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, universities, think tanks, and Nobel laureates in order to advance the UN’s mission without relying exclusively on state power and inter-state cooperation.

Kofi Annan and Global Leadership at the United Nations charts Annan’s ambitious efforts to reform and adapt the UN to the needs of the twenty-first century. It is a pathbreaking and authoritative volume and a union of scrupulous scholarship and insider knowledge of the UN.

Abiodun Williams, Professor of the Practice of International Politics, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and The Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University

Abiodun Williams is Professor of the Practice of International Politics at Tufts University. He was President of The Hague Institute for Global Justice and Senior Vice President of the Center for Conflict Management at the United States Institute of Peace. He served as Director of Strategic Planning to UN Secretaries-General Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon. He has also taught at Georgetown University and the University of Rochester. He is a former Chair of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS). He is the author or editor of five books on the United Nations and international relations.