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More projects to come, but in French only for the time being...
Kofi Annan: An Insiders' View of a Secretary General
Who really was Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations for ten years, from the beginning of 1997 to the end of 2006? Acclaimed and admired during the beginning of his mandate, even to the point of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, he became the object of scorn for the extreme right in the United States when he dared oppose the unilateral decision of the United States to invade Iraq in 2003, a war he termed as “illegal.”
For the very first time, those close to him – his wife Nane, his children (his son Kojo was also blamed for his role in the “Oil for Food” scandal), his former collaborators and advisors, as well as ambassadors and other individuals who are known the world over who worked closely with him talk about the man behind the Secretary General. They present a forthright portrait, leaving out none of his strengths or weaknesses, of Kofi Annan, of the person who was at once discrete and an effective communicator to the media, hesitant and capable, careful and audacious. He was one of the most engaged Secretaries General in the history of the United Nations. These same contributors reveal, through their painstaking description of his veritable descent into hell following the launching of the war in Iraq , the enormous influence the United States wields in the United Nations.
The book was written by Fred Eckhart, Kofi Annan's spokesperson for nearly 8 years, and is based on extensive interviews with nearly one hundred different individuals carried out during 2006 and 2007. The adaptation of the text and translation into French are being done by Annick Stevenson. The book will be published by Editions du Tricorne (Geneva ) in 2008.
