“When I look at the murder, rape and starvation to which the people of Darfur are being subjected, I fear that we have not got far beyond “lip service”. The lesson here is that high-sounding doctrines like the “responsibility to protect” will remain pure rhetoric unless and until those with the power to intervene effectively — by exerting political, economic or, in the last resort, military muscle — are prepared to take the lead.”

—  Kofi Annan

Truman Library address (2006)

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Kofi Annan 60
7th Secretary-General of the United Nations 1938–2018

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