Forgotten men: the story of two peacemakers and their ideas of the world - The Hindu

With elections for the next United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) due in 2026, expect the next few months in global politics to be dominated by discussions on what or whom the world body needs, to stave off predictions about the UN's imminent death. That threat comes not just from the conflicts and calamities the world faces, but from a slew of populist leaders worldwide taking their countries down an uber-nationalist path that diverges from the multilateral global system and the international rules-based order.At such a time, it may be useful, even comforting to recall the words of U Thant, the UN's first Secretary General from the global south (Third World as it was called then). In his farewell speech Thant, a former Burmese school teacher who switched careers to become a diplomat, said he was proud of the fact that the flame of internationalism kept burning through his tenure (1961-1971).