Kofi Annan, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, reinvented the role of Secretary-General and exercised global leadership during a turbulent period in world affairs. He tried to rescue the UN from irrelevance. Despite many obstacles, he kept the UN central to international diplomacy and norm setting. A transformational leader, he introduced enduring changes to improve the way the UN operates. With the UN in the crosshairs again, the lessons from Kofi Annan are particularly relevant to the UN’s retention of legal and moral authority.

Dr Abiodun Williams is Professor of the Practice of International Politics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and The Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University. He was Director of Strategic Planning for United Nations Secretaries-General Kofi Annan and Ban KiMoon. He served in UN peacekeeping missions in North Macedonia, Haiti, and Bosnia, in senior political and humanitarian roles. Dr. Williams has also held leadership positions in think tanks. He has taught at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and the University of Rochester. He is past Chair of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS), and a former member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. He is the recipient of the Dr Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award from Tufts University, and the Constantine E. Maguire Medal from Georgetown University. His latest book is Kofi Annan and Global Leadership at the United Nations.