Kofi Annan at Stanford

     Kofi Annan, who will be Stanford's Commencement speaker, has published a handsome book entitled 'We the Peoples': The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century. His Stanford talk will presumably be a paraphrase of it. There is one section entitled "Freedom from Fear. The need for a more human-centred approach to security is reinforced by the continuing dangers that weapons of mass destruction pose to humanity."
     The issue of such weapons is an explosive issue in the United States, where the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jesse Helms, has issued a blunt, even crude warning to President Clinton that any new agreement in that area would be blocked by him.
     The absence of any courses on the U.N. at Stanford is indicative of the general indifference, even hostility with which the U.N. is widely viewed in this country. Stanford should organize some meetings to discuss the issues raised by Kofi Annan.

Ronald Hilton - 5/2/00