Global Policy Forum

By Edith M. Lederer

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton's second day as president of the U.N. Security Council on Friday was more successful than his first: The 14 other members agreed to his request for daily briefings on U.N. peacekeeping operations and global hotspots. The council members decided to try the daily briefings on an experimental basis while the U.S. holds the rotating, monthlong presidency in February.

While Bolton exulted that "sweet reason prevailed" on the daily briefings, he lamented that council members still did not show up on time for Friday's 10 a.m. meeting. But the meeting started only 10 minutes late _ five minutes earlier than Thursday _ and Bolton said he appreciated the fact that the ambassadors of Ghana, Japan and Denmark arrived well before 10 a.m.

As Friday's meeting time approached, several ambassadors rushed by reporters waiting outside the council on Friday morning, not stopping to chat as they often do, except for Greece's U.N. Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis. He noted that at the European Union headquarters in Brussels, "the Dutch did exactly the same thing, and they said the interpreters are there at 10 o'clock and we pay money ... so it's a question of money."

While Vassilakis was talking, France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere sped by. After the meeting, he admitted with a laugh that he was two minutes late. "But I told him (Bolton) next month he will have to be on time!" he added. Bolton said arriving on time is not only a matter of discipline but also "a matter of courtesy" and using the council's time effectively.

The daily briefings by the U.N. Secretariat are "intended to make the Security Council a more effective decision-making body," by getting away from set-piece speeches and encouraging informal discussion of key issues, he said. Bolton said he envisions a 5-15 minute briefing followed by 30-45 minutes of discussion among council members, with the United States contributing information it has on issues that arise.

When he raised the idea at the meeting Thursday, "there was resistance because it's different," Bolton said. After that meeting, Bolton said he went to see Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who told him he would be happy to do the briefings. The secretary-general sent his chief of staff, Mark Malloch Brown, to the council Friday to endorse the idea. "I'm very pleased about it," Bolton said. "I said I was prepared to assess it every day. It is intended to change the dynamic of discussion within the council. At least we'll see, as an experiment, whether it contributes to that." At the end of February, council members will decide whether to continue the briefings, he said.

Denmark's U.N. Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Loj said she has been arguing for more informal exchanges in the council and liked the idea. "We can continue in the U.N. and do like we have done in 60 years without any changes. Sometimes we have to be a bit more modern," she said. "It also means we are up on our toes and I don't have to wait to be told by the journalists when I come out of the council what has happened."

Bolton said he has enjoyed at least one perk on the job. Miss Universe, Natalie Glebova of Russia, unexpectedly showed up in his office on Thursday and he gave her a tour of the Security Council and "we had a pleasant discussion." Afterwards, he said he was thinking, "how do you run for re-election for this job?"

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