World's Toughest Job

Can the Secretary-General Still Act as a Firebreak on Peace and Security?

During the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, United Nations Secretary-General U Thant had three things on his side: personal diplomacy, the UN’s neutrality, and a few precious days to negotiate.  Today, the risk from war is once again at a dangerous level. And on this episode of World’s Toughest Job, we ask what leverage the next secretary-general will have when a threat simmers for months or years and then explodes—not in 13 days, but in 13 hours. Can they still act as a firebreak when the old safety nets are gone? Or is it truly an impossible job? Jasmin Baoumy and Mark Malloch-Brown are joined by Lynn Kuok, the Lee Kuan Yew chair at Brookings Institution; Ankit Panda, nuclear weapons expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; and Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, president of the International Peace Institute.  World’s Toughest Job is a co-production of Foreign Policy and the UN Foundation.

What Kind of Leader Does the UN Need Right Now?

This year, 193 member states will elect a new secretary-general of the United Nations. Over the next eight episodes, we’ll ask how the next secretary-general might actually make a difference on issues from economic turbulence and superpower rivalries to artificial intelligence, inequality, and climate change. But today, we’re starting off with the most basic question: What kind of leader does the UN need right now? Host Jasmin Baoumy is joined by Thant Myint-U, a senior fellow at the UN Foundation; Susana Malcorra, the president and co-founder of GWL Voices; and Mark Malloch-Brown, a former UN deputy secretary-general and administrator of the UN Development Programme.  World’s Toughest Job is a co-production of Foreign Policy and the UN Foundation.

Coming Soon: World's Toughest Job

Between now and the end of this year, 193 member states will elect a new secretary-general of the United Nations. This person will oversee a staff of tens of thousands around the world and be asked to manage global emergencies, avert climate disaster, and end wars—all while answering to 193 bosses. What kind of leader does the world need right now? And how should candidates prepare to serve not just governments but 8 billion people? We’ll get into it all on World’s Toughest Job, coming April 28 from Foreign Policy and the UN Foundation.