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Article: A funny way to fill the world's top job.(Secretary-General of the United Nations)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- July 20, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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CHOOSING the head of the United Nations is a haphazard, bickering affair that happens every ten years, usually with a lesser kerfuffle at midway point as the incumbent, whatever his inadequacies, is waved through to a second five-year term. Now, for the second time in the UN's history, the minor fuss is shaping up to be a bloody one as Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the current secretary-general, whose term finishes at the end of the year, surges implacably onward in his bid to extend his mandate despite America's equally implacable promise to veto his nomination.
In theory, the secretary-general is chosen by the UN's General Assembly on the recommendation of the 15-member ...