The UN has been denied a proper role in the conflict and Annan admits it as being limiting and not very effective.

Middle East, MDGs and the future of our planet

Speaking of his diplomatic initiatives to redefine security, as security from hunger, disease and poverty; towards accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Annan paints an interesting picture of his struggles with African leaders like Mugabe, who refused to acknowledge the use of condoms in the strategy to prevent the spread of AIDS. He captures this shifting in priorities quite well, when he says:" I spent most of my tenure as secretary-general in an international environment obsessed with the potential peril of weapons of mass destruction. But in HIV / AIDS, which never received anything like the same level of attention, we had a true WMD- and one that was actively unleashing itself in the world." His lament about...
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