Latest Kofi Annan Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• Good, healthy democratic societies are built on three pillars: there's peace and stability, economic development, and respect for rule of law and human rights. But often, we take stability - peace in terms of security and economic activity - to mean a country is doing well. We forget the third and important pillar of rule of law and respect for human rights, because no country can long remain prosperous without that third pillar.

  Kofi Annan

  Country, Mean, Rights

• Sometimes I walk into a situation and I know somebody is going to provoke me - not maybe, I know he will provoke me - I know he will provoke me! And there are times when I simply refuse to be provoked. And the other times you have to use that superior knowledge to carry on at work without distraction, and don't allow yourself to be distracted. I laugh a lot inside and outside, and at myself sometimes.

  Kofi Annan

  Laughing, Use, Sometimes

• Tony Blair is a very able politician; he's perhaps one of the best of his generation. He made a major contribution in many areas, but in Iraq I believe he got it wrong. He got it wrong.

  Kofi Annan

  Believe, Iraq, Generations

• Over time you learn to know a bit more about yourself - you develop a certain amount of self-insight and self-awareness, and you know what you can absorb, and what you cannot; what gets to you and what doesn't. And I observe a lot. I see a lot around me. And over time you also get to understand the nature of man and the environments you are dealing with, and you can't always allow emotions and temper to flare up because you're displeased with something, or you want to change it.

  Kofi Annan

  Men, Self, Flare Up

• One of my biggest regrets was the fact that as an institution and an international community we could not stop the war in Iraq. That really was very difficult and very painful. Every fibre in my body felt it was wrong. I spoke to leaders, we spoke to people, we tried... we couldn't stop it... and we see the results.

  Kofi Annan

  Regret, War, Iraq

  "Kofi Annan Calls Obama’s Libya Policy 'Not Very Helpful'" by Richard Grenell, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 19, 2011.

• It is extreme arrogance for one to think he is the only one who can govern his country and nobody else can do it. We're all human. After 10, 15 years you get tired, you run out of steam and ideas, you have to give a chance to somebody else. And whether you yourself are inclined to stay on, all those around you are pushing you to stay on for what they will gain. One has to have the strength of character to say the time has come to move on...unless you are a king.

  Kofi Annan

  Running, Country, Kings

• Most governments only want to deploy a peacekeeping force where there is a peace agreement and there is peace to keep. They are very hesitant about putting their men and women in harm's way. It is extremely difficult to get the troops if you do not have the consent of the country where you are deploying.

  Kofi Annan

  Country, Men, Want

• One has to learn from history. Quite frankly, it is almost impossible to have a sense of vision without a sense of history. If history is learned, then it doesn't have to repeat itself over generations.

  Kofi Annan

  Vision, Generations, Impossible

• There is a certain tendency on the part of some Americans to treat the UN as a multilateralism à la carte where you pick and choose where it suits you and when it doesn't suit you, you pull back.

  Kofi Annan

  Suits You, Treats, Tendencies

• HIV/AIDS has become much more than a health issue. HIV/AIDS is a development issue, it's a security issue.

  Kofi Annan

  Issues, Hiv, Development

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• When we talk about the UN, what are we really talking about? We are talking about my country, your country, other countries and their collective will to stand together and apply pressure or offer incentives to steer things in the right direction. When the nations of the world come together, with collective will, on an issue and they speak with a united voice, they have a much greater impact. When there is division, then the impact is much, much less.

  Kofi Annan

  Country, Voice, Issues

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• Depending on where you live, your threat is much different from the other person. If you ask a New Yorker today, because of the way the press plays it, he will say terrorism is his biggest fear. But for somebody living on a small island state, then it is climate change, the rise of the sea level, for his whole island may be washed away. If I go to southern Africa, they tell me it is HIV/AIDS and somewhere in Asia it is poverty. This is also why you will find it difficult to find agreements, because if you want someone to be concerned about your threat, then you should be concerned about his.

  Kofi Annan

  Agreement, Sea, Play

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• If the United Nations is not as united as it should be, that is because it is a reflection of the world we live in.

  Kofi Annan

  Reflection, World, Should

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• Reform is a process, and not an event.

  Kofi Annan

  Events, Reform, Process

  Source: www.global-leaders.tv

• The interesting thing is, everybody focuses on the global warming as an environmental issue, as something outside our daily lives. But actually the impact of global warming is with us today. Communities are suffering. Communities in poor countries are the ones paying the price, they are not the ones who are polluting, and we need to help them adapt.

  Kofi Annan

  Country, Issues, Impact

  Source: www.global-leaders.tv

• Some have suggested that ideally there must be some international body that would treat areas like the Arctic as a global commerce, a bit like the way we treat the sea. It doesn't belong to any particular country, but to all of us, but I'm not sure some of the powerful are ready for that sort of solution.

  Kofi Annan

  Country, Powerful, Sea

  Source: www.global-leaders.tv

• The [UN Security Council] P5 ought to be dissuaded from using their veto power, which can paralyze the United Nations. The country blocking action ought to have to explain its decision and propose an alternative solution. It has been suggested that a veto only becomes effective if the vetoing state has the support of two or three other permanent members.

  Kofi Annan

  Country, Block, Two

  Source: www.accaglobal.com

• One must also acknowledge that there are moments in an organisation's development when fresh blood and new vision are required, which may imply that an outsider may be better suited to the leadership role.

  Kofi Annan

  Blood, Vision, Roles

  Source: www.accaglobal.com

• The Security Council should be seen as the executive committee of the global security system set up after World War II. Its members, and especially the Permanent 5 (P5), have a special responsibility for international peace and security.

  Kofi Annan

  War, Responsibility, Security Systems

  Source: www.accaglobal.com

• I did not always achieve what I set out to do. Nevertheless, my personal example certainly suggests that hands-on experience can be helpful to future leaders.

  Kofi Annan

  Hands, Leader, Example

  Source: www.accaglobal.com

• My intimate knowledge of the [UN] system allowed me to get things done despite the many obstacles.

  Kofi Annan

  Done, Obstacles, Intimate

  Source: www.accaglobal.com

• Having worked my way from the bottom of the ladder to the top [of the UN] certainly helped me navigate that complexity, both political and bureaucratic.

  Kofi Annan

  Political, Ladders, Way

  Source: www.accaglobal.com

• In fact UN is more of a galaxy of organisations and agencies than one machine.

  Kofi Annan

  Agency, Machines, Facts

  Source: www.accaglobal.com

• UN is made even more complex by the constant interplay of politics and bureaucracy and can certainly be bewildering for a novice.

  Kofi Annan

  Novices, Made, Bureaucracy

  Source: www.accaglobal.com

• Like any large organisation, public or private, the UN is a complex machine.

  Kofi Annan

  Machines, Organisation, Complexes

  Source: www.accaglobal.com