Boutros-Ghali Speaks Out

In a conversation with TIME last week, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros- Ghali vented his frustration at the inaction of the world community in Rwanda:

The member states are fatigued. When I was elected in 1991, we thought the U.N. would be able to solve all the world’s problems with a few thousand troops. Suddenly we discovered that rather than one or two operations, we had 17; rather than a few thousand, we needed 70,000 soldiers; rather than spending $600 million for the peacekeeping, we needed $4 billion. We discovered that instead of a few accidents, every month a few peacekeepers are killed. All these factors create a kind of despair and hopelessness: Why must we intervene? We will never be finished.

We used to be involved in a classic civil war or international war. Suddenly we have something new, which is the failed state. No more government. Yugoslavia, Somalia, Rwanda: no more government. Military people discovered that they’re deployed not for a few months, but maybe for a few years, because they can’t leave until the country is reconstructed. Then the members say, “But do we want to be there forever? What for?” It begins with no solution in Yugoslavia. And no solution in Somalia. There has been a multiplication of similar situations, along with the feeling that you can’t get involved there and there and there.

It was evident from the beginning that the situation in Rwanda was going wrong. But we have not been accustomed to having preventive diplomacy. During the cold war, ((the U.S. was)) ready to have its bombers flying 24 hours a day, which cost you $1 billion a day. But ((now)) U.N. members will not agree to spend $50 million to send troops on a mission to avoid conflict.

You will pay the price sooner or later if you don’t intervene. And later it could cost you 10 times more. If it is a disease, it may spread, and you never know how this disease can hurt you. The U.S. also has the special responsibility of being a superpower. If you want to play a role in international affairs, you must get involved in the security of the world. You have a responsibility belonging to the family of nations. We all have a responsibility: we are in the same boat.