This column should start with a health warning: It contains some truly tedious writing about the future of the United Nations. In my own defense, I should add that the passages in question were not authored by me.
This week, the current eight candidates to replace Ban Ki-moon as secretary-general when his term expires at the end of this year will have two-hour hearings at the U.N. General Assembly. As of this weekend, seven had published “vision statements” to pave the way for their appearances; the one exception was the last to declare, New Zealand’s Helen Clark.
I have read them so you don’t have to. And trust me: You don’t really want to.