ANNAN, KOFI

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06813851
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: August 12, 2020
• Case Number: F-2018-02369
• Publication Date: November 9, 2000

Approved for Release: 2020/07/29 C06813851
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Kofi ANNAN
(Phonetic: ANen)
Secretary General, UN (since 1997)
Addressed as: Mr. Secretary General
I'm here to do a job, and self is not involved,
because we're dealing with much bigger issues,
much more is at stake. To put my own ego or my
own reputation at the center of it, I think, would
be unconscionable and would be a mistake.
Kofi Annan, December 1998
Confident and proactive, Kofi Annan has
helped boost the prestige and influence of the UN
since becoming its first black African Secretary
General. Annan's sophisticated representation of
the UN to the public has increased international
support for the organization's activities. His
efforts to stave off war with Iraq and to win
extradition of the Pan Am 103 bombing
suspects�although severely criticized in some
quarters�has led to renewed calls for UN
intervention in other difficult or longstanding
disputes, such as the Middle East peace process.
He played an instrumental role in setting up the
October 2000 Middle East peace summit in
Egypt, for example. Annan also has stripped
much of the fat from the organi7ation by cutting
personnel and streamlining the UN Secretariat. In
addition, Annan has lit a fire under the
organization's lethargic bureaucracy by bringing
in dynamic new personalities from both the
government and the private sector to fill key
leadership positions.
Annan has articulately advocated the UN's
humanitarian and internationalist ideals by
pressing for new programs to educate the world's
poor and ease Third World debt. His public
advocacy efforts are largely responsible for the
renewed emphasis being given to Africa at the
UN. In trying to increase the UN's relevance,
however, Annan also has become one of the most
provocative leaders the organization has known.
GHANA
� (1996)
Idealistic World View
Born in Ghana and educated in the United
States and Europe, Annan is the first Secretary
General to be elected from the ranks of the
UN. He is the product of the very
globalization process in which he wants the
UN to play a bigger regulatory role for the
benefit of all mankind Well known for his
gentle personality, nonconfrontational
manner, and idealistic world view, Annan
nonetheless makes quick judgments and
prefers to deal with problems head on. Most
member states hold him in high regard despite
his proactive leadership style and the
controversial stances he has taken on issues
such as humanitarian intervention. Annan to
a large extent shares US views about how the
UN should deal with the challenges facing the
rworld. but he worries about US unilateralism.
More General Than Secretary
Annan's controversial stance on a variety of
issues and his proactive leadership style have
made him a lightning rod for criticism from
developed and developing countries alike but
appear to have done little to tarnish his image or
dilute his influence. In late 1999, for example, he
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LP 00-108991
9 November 2000
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Career Highlights
1963 Began UN career, WHO, Geneva.
1965-71
1974-76
1976-80
1980-84
Administrative officer, then chief
of personnel section, Economic
Commission for Africa, Addis
Ababa.
Left UN and managed government-
owned Ghana Tourist Development
Company.
Returned to UN as deputy chief of
staff services, Office of Personnel
Services.
Deputy director of administration
directorate, UN Office of the High
Commissioner for Refugees,
Geneva.
1984-86 Director of the budget, UN Office
of Financial Services.
1986-90 Assistant secretary general for
human resources management.
1990-92 UN comptroller and director,
Office of Program, Planning,
Budget, and Finance.
1992-93 Assistant secretary general, Office
of Peacekeeping Operations.
1993-96 Director, Department for
Peacekeeping Operations.
released two reports, well received in much of the
developing world, that castigated the UN and the
world's major powers for failing to stop the Serb
atrocities at Srebrenica in 1995 and the genocide
in Rwanda the previous year. Many
commentators, however, considered Annan's
criticism of member states�particularly the
West, which provides the bulk of the
organization's funding�to be troublesome and
outside the scope of his authority.
On the other hand, Annan infunated many
developing countries and drew criticism from
Russia and China in September 1999, when he
brushed aside the notion that national borders are
inviolable and argued that the world has the right
to intervene when leaders abuse their people.
Many Nonaligned Movement and G-77 countries
considered Annan' s call for humanitarian
intervention an effort to appease the United States
in order to secure his reelection bid, according to
sensitive reporting. They are critical of Annan for
following Washington's lead too often,
particularly in view of continuing US arrears.
Undecided on Second Term
Annan is
interested in serving a second term when his
current term expires at the end of 2001. The
outcome of US efforts to reform the scale of
assessments and Airman's perception of the new
Administration's attitude toward the UN,
however, will influence his decision.
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The international backlash from a
continued US refusal to pay its dues might spur
Annan to criticize Washington more and could
make his job more difficult by impairing the
Security Council's ability to achieve the
consensus on critical issues necessary to give
Annan clear and executable mandates.
Nonetheless, potential rivals will hesitate to
challenge him, absent clear opposition to a second
Annan term among the Council's permanent
members
Personal Notes (U)
Annan was born a twin on 8 April 1938 near
Kumasi, Ghana. He has studied at the University
of Science and Technology in Ghana (1958-59),
Macalester College in Minnesota (1959-61), the
International Institute of Higher Studies in
Switzerland (1961-62), and the Sloan School of
Management at MIT (1971-72). Annan speaks
excellent English, French, and several African
languages, including Twi and Fante. His first
marriage to a Nigerian ended in divorce. In 1984,
Annan married Nane Lagergren, a Swedish
national, who is the niece of Raoul Wallenberg.
The couple has three adult children from previous
marriages.
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