A position of leadership

While a more immediate election looms at home, the top position in the U.N. is also up for replacement this year, and the Star examines some of the politics surrounding the next possibilities for Secretary General:

Working against (Louise Arbour) is the fact she has alienated Washington with outspoken remarks on the downgrading of rules against torture, sparking a rebuke from Washington's controversial ambassador, John Bolton.

Bolton's remarks brought a brisk defence from Secretary-General Annan, who said he had "absolutely no disagreement with the statement she made" as the UN's human rights chief.

"I can't imagine anybody I'd rather have as secretary-general," says Paul Heinbecker, a former Canadian ambassador to the UN.

"But there are countries that want a secretary rather than a general, and so she has no chance at the job."

While Arbour may be the ideal candidate for the position, it does appear likely that her past willingness to criticize the U.S. where criticism is due would make her virtually certain to face a U.S. veto. But hopefully the next Secretary General will have at least some element of that willingness to speak truth to power...lest the U.N. otherwise become as irrelevant as the U.S. already believes it to be.