Kofi Annan's diplomacy
Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi<
It is still reassuring that the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, now on a Middle East tour aiming at easing the tensions in the region and securing a fragile but complete ceasefire and an end to the Israeli blockade of Lebanon, has expressed optimism about the success of his mission, though the Israeli Prime-minister Olmert does not support the plan. Olmert, sufficiently tight cornered by domestic critics pressuring him to resign and without Ariel Sharon, the architect of new relations with Palestine, on scene, Olmert might be in a weak position to convince the anti-Muslim clergy the need to compromise with Lebanon. The Lebanese prime minister does not see any possibility of a just and comprehensive peace between both the countries, because Tel Aviv does not desire to lift the Lebanon blockade. Considering the tense situation prevailing in the Middle Eastern region and the reluctant attitude of the USA to play a real pro-active role to resolve the crisis following Israel's air-strikes, there is very little that the Secretary General, who otherwise does not play any constructive role in regional disputes other than engaging himself in shuttle diplomacy, owing to pressure form the USA, could achieve. When the UN has been effectively converted into a pro-USA forum to further the US national interest and the UNSC behaves like a tool to bring the world under the US control, the poor Secretary General can do very little to solve the Israel-Hezbollah crisis, unless, of course, the Pentagon begins to consider the world as comprising sovereign nations and not its puppet regimes. Will Annan return from the Middle East with flying colours?
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