Interventions (48 page)

As secretary-general, I made it my mission to put the individual at the center of everything we did. There were few more powerful reminders of the importance of this than speaking with refugees, in this case with a woman who had been forced to flee Kosovo in 1999 in the face of the Serbian campaign of “ethnic cleansing.”
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

During my ten years in office, I got to know Tony Blair, George Bush, and Jacques Chirac well—as leaders and friends—though the Iraq crisis would put our relationships to the test.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Visiting Ground Zero within days of the attacks of 9/11. I shared my shock and outrage with President George W. Bush and conveyed a universal sense of support and sympathy with the people of the United States.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Colin Powell lent his unique prestige and reputation to America's case for war over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. I always admired his dignity and deep sense of duty to his country.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

I began my Nobel Peace Prize address imagining the fate of a girl born in Afghanistan that day and urged the world to unite around the idea that sovereignty should never be considered a shield for gross violations of human rights. ©
Sergey Bermeniev

After we succeeded in bringing East Timor back from the brink of a savage civil war, the United Nations became responsible for its transition to independence. I asked Sergio Vieira de Mello (to my right) to lead this complex task, and in so doing he brilliantly managed the emergence of a new nation led by the courageous Xanana Gusmão. ©
Sergey Bermeniev

Wynton Marsalis, a visionary of music and art, became a friend and supporter—though getting a tune out of his trumpet turned out to be a lot harder than it looked much to the amusement of my wife Nane and Luciano Pavarotti.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

In Darfur, meeting with two women who told me of their suffering at the hands of the Janjaweed militia. Nowhere was the question of intervention more complex or challenging.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Nelson Mandela, whose singular leadership qualities and moral courage have been an inspiration throughout my career. As secretary-general, I could always count on his support and—at critical junctures—personal intervention in crises from Africa to Iraq.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

My fearless and loyal friend Richard Holbrooke (standing to Bill Clinton's left), who never hesitated to challenge me when he thought the UN could do better, and never left my side—even at the most difficult moments of my time as secretary-general. ©
Sergey Bermeniev

The signing ceremony for the Rome Statute—a signal moment of progress in international law and the fight against impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
UN Photo

With our children and friends at the Nobel Peace Prize celebration in Oslo—a moment of recognition for the work of the United Nations in every part of the world.
© Sergey Bermeniev