Antonio Guterres’ appointment unlikely to stir UN’s stagnant waters (South Asia Monitor)

As has traditionally been the case, the announcement of a new United Nations secretary-general gives grounds to speculate as to what could have been. The UN, for all its many faults, still symbolically represents the Kantian ideal — a single worldwide entity dedicated to the peaceful and negotiated solution of disputes between nations and larger global concerns. The new secretary-general, former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres is a more political animal than Ban Ki-moon, the former South Korean diplomat he replaces. But otherwise he is cut from the same cloth that most UN heads are. He comes from a small country, has a record of not saying or doing anything remotely controversial and, finally, there is a consensus among the major states that he will not stir the UN’s stagnant waters.

http://southasiamonitor.org/news/antonio-guterres-appointment-unlikely-to-stir-un-s-stagnant-waters/n/19732