The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American World Power

Updated for the Paperback Edition

During his first term as secretary-general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan was one of the most widely admired men in the world. In 2001, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Then the UN failed to stop war in Iraq and genocide in Darfur, and the institution was engulfed by the Oil-for-Food scandal. By the time Annan left office in December 2006, both he and the UN had suffered a terrible loss of standing.

Did the UN's failures arise from its own structure and cultu...