Thinking About the Election of the New UNESCO Director General

A critical determinant of the behavior of an agency is its mission, and for UNESCO that mission is still best described by the preamble to its constitution. Here is that preamble in its entirety:

The Governments of the States Parties to this Constitution on behalf of their peoples declare:

That since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed;

That ignorance of each other's ways and lives has been a common cause, throughout the history of mankind, of that suspicion and mistrust between the peoples of the world through which their differences have all too often broken into war;

That the great and terrible war which has now ended was a war made possible by the denial of the democratic principles of the dignity, equality and mutual respect of men, and by the propagation, in their place, through ignorance and prejudice, of the doctrine of the inequality of men and races;

That the wide diffusion of culture, and the education of humanity for justice and liberty and peace are indispensable to the dignity of man and constitute a sacred duty which all the nations must fulfil in a spirit of mutual assistance and concern;

That a peace based exclusively upon the political and economic arrangements of governments would not be a peace which could secure the unanimous, lasting and sincere support of the peoples of the world, and that the peace must therefore be founded, if it is not to fail, upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind.

For these reasons, the States Parties to this Constitution, believing in full and equal opportunities for education for all, in the unrestricted pursuit of objective truth, and in the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, are agreed and determined to develop and to increase the means of communication between their peoples and to employ these means for the purposes of mutual understanding and a truer and more perfect knowledge of each other's lives;

In consequence whereof they do hereby create the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for the purpose of advancing, through the educational and scientific and cultural relations of the peoples of the world, the objectives of international peace and of the common welfare of mankind for which the United Nations Organization was established and which its Charter proclaims.

Which of the eight candidates for the position of Director General of UNESCO is likely to be most committed to that mission? Which is likely to do the best job of leading UNESCO as it carries out that mission? (Commitment to the mission is only one factor in the ability to lead well.)

The eight active candidates come from eight different countries. They have different life experiences and different professional histories. All have achieved very senior professional positions indicating considerable accomplishment. All are multilingual, all have lived in more than one country, and all have experienced living in more than one culture. Perhaps most important, all have been nominated for the position by one of more UNESCO member nations, and thus require serious consideration for their candidacies.

Leading towards peace

There appears to be a difference among the candidates in terms of experience in the promotion of peace. One has graduate educational training in the promotion of peace. Two have direct experience in international negotiations for the promotion of peace. One has a long history of opposing cultural exchanges that might have diffused potential conflict due his demand that the other country should reform its policies before exchanges would take place.

Recognition of Geographic Priorities/Sensitivity to Cultures

UNESCO works in the real world. The task of "advancing, through the educational and scientific and cultural relations of the peoples of the world, the objectives of international peace and of the common welfare of mankind" will differ from situation. It will depend in part on the specific cultures involved. The different candidates have personal experience with different cultures, and it seems likely that they have different capacities for the appreciation of cultures not their own.

UNESCO's mission must be seen in terms of the importance of conflicts, the urgency of efforts to reduce conflict, and the relative power of UNESCO to make a difference. The threat to the world of a breach of the peace between two powers, each with weapons of mass destruction, is obviously greater than that between to less well-armed powers. Active conflict, such as that in Afghanistan raises more urgent problems than do potential future conflicts. For some countries UNESCO can be expected to have relatively little influence as compared with other international organizations, while in others UNESCO may well be comparatively well positioned to make an impact.

UNESCO has very limited resources, and thus must focus its efforts carefully. The Director General has great influence in how those resources will be allocated. Therefore, the Director General should have broad understanding of global issues, and should be able to rise above the specific issues of interest to his/her home country in order to be able to lead in the most effective application of UNESCO's efforts to problems of global importance whereever they arise.

Consider some of the issues faced by a global agency. The problems of Arab-Israeli relations have received a great deal of attention in the media coverage of the current election. The occupation of Iraq by Coalition forces, the war in Afghanistan, and the potential development of nuclear weapons in Iraq all direct attention to the Gulf rather than the Levant?

Societies in flux, such as rapidly developing, transition, or failing states, offer special challenges and opportunities for UNESCO. Sub-Saharan Africa has been the site of the most deadly conflicts over recent decades, and has been identified as the priority for UNESCO by its governing bodies. The fall of Communism has led to radical social and economic transformations in the former Communist nations of Europe, and those transformations would seem to require their own priority from UNESCO.

Asia, with its huge population, includes a number of countries that have experienced rapid economic development in recent decades. Several are nuclear powers, and these countries are expanding international markets for both raw materials and finished products. Asia has been the greatest rural to urban migration in history, and some Asian countries are experiencing major environmental problems.

It may well be that some of these situations involve long term potential threats to peace rather than immediate threats, but UNESCO's approach to the promotion of peace is long term also, and the magnitude of the threats must be taken into account as well as their immediacy.

The candidates would seem to differ considerably in their experience with these global problems. Two are culturally Arab, one of whom appears most focused on Arab-Israeli issues while the other is experienced in Latin American issues as well as those of the Levant. Three are from transition countries, one of whom is a senior official of the Russian Foreign Ministry with experience representing that country at the United Nations. One is a senior official responsible for aspects of foreign policy of the European Commission, who also has experience as foreign minister of her own neutral country as well as experience in the United Nations. Two come from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Prioritization of Types of Knowledge

The task of "advancing, through the educational and scientific and cultural relations of the peoples of the world, the objectives of international peace and of the common welfare of mankind" also requires understanding of real world sources of conflict.

Some of those sources are physical. Thus, climate change is likely to force massive population dislocations in the coming century and those dislocations may occasion conflict. Exhaustion of water resources in increasingly heavily populated arid lands is also predicted to be a source of conflict in the 21st century. Both of these factors may result in dramatic changes in patterns of agricultural productivity, and hunger is a powerful motivation for conflict.

Some of the sources of conflict are socio-economic. Globalization is resulting in new economic rivalries that in turn have the potential to spawn conflict. The development of the global information infrastructure is driving massive new exposures of formerly isolated cultures to the culture of the Western nations that dominate the global media, and we have seen that that clash of cultures has been a source of conflict.

If UNESCO is promote educational, scientific and cultural relations among peoples, given the huge range of such relations and the limited resources of UNESCO, it should focus on the exchanges that will do the most to prevent the escalation of conflict. Thus, for example, it may be important that UNESCO focus on education and science relating to water resource and climate change, to globalization and the cultural impact of media.

In consideration of the candidates for Director General, it is important that the person to be elected have a deep understanding of these real-world, physical, economic and social sources of conflict. Unfortunately, little of this understanding can be inferred from their biographies nor their vision statements for the future of UNESCO.

Final Comment

The purpose of this posting is to help think through the issues, not to come to a conclusion. Even if there appear to be significant differences among candidates in the breadth and depth of understanding of and identification with global issues, as suggested above, the leadership ability will also depend on the ability to motivate people within and outside UNESCO, the understanding of the educational, scientific, cultural and communications tools available to UNESCO, and the organizational ability to manage the resources of the organization to pursue its mission.