Andrew Gilmour

Andrew Gilmour is executive director of the Berghof Foundation in Berlin. He worked at the UN for 30 years, his last position was assistant secretary general for human rights.

Monday

Andrew Gilmour

On the death of a diplomat: Brian Urquhart 1919–2021

From our UK edition

Last Saturday saw the departure of one of the last remaining British giants of the post-war world. Sir Brian Urquhart — one of perhaps the three most influential people in the 75-year history of the United Nations, which he joined immediately after its creation following a highly distinguished war record — died just short of his 102nd birthday at his rural home in Massachusetts surrounded by his family. He has been my friend and mentor for the last 30 years, and I have often been asked — including by some of the suitably laudatory obituarists of the past day — to explain how any man could inspire so much reverence, particularly working in such an environment. Across all divides and backgrounds, his appeal was almost universal.

Saturday

Andrew Gilmour

Stop bashing the UN

From our UK edition

Question: what do the Taleban, Serb war criminals, al-Qa’eda, Rwandan genocidaires, the Ku Klux Klan, the Kach movement, the Japanese Red Army and the Janjaweed of Darfur have in common? Answer: two things actually. The obvious one, plus the fact that — like the Spectator columnist Mark Steyn — they all passionately abhor the United Nations, see it as an obstacle to their particular agenda and call for its abolition. The UN has always evoked violent passions, especially among its detractors. Its defenders tend to be rather calmer.