of Russia. Many of us in the Group of 77 believe that it is now time for the U.N. to change as well.' In truth, the Third World countries had been wanting to change the Security Council since they began to make up the majority of members in the U.N. 'It is totally unreasonable,' Sabudu continued, 'that five nations should exercise such dominance over the United Nations as do the five permanent members of the Security Council.' Sabudu's voice was spiced with the conviction of his message.
'Let me assure you, Thomas,' Hansen said, taking the liberty to call Sabudu by his first name, 'even though my country is one of those five you refer to, I personally share that view.'
'Jon,' said Milner, 'Thomas and I have polled most of the members of the Group of 77 and a great many of them, one hundred and seven at this point, have committed their support to such a motion. Another thirty-two are leaning strongly in our direction.
Hansen raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised at the level of support for the proposition. 'But why have you decided that I should be the one to make the proposal?'
'Three reasons,' answered Milner. 'First, as Thomas said, you've made the motion before. Second, you're very well respected by all the members, especially the Third World countries. And third, because we feel it's absolutely imperative that the motion be made by the Delegate of one of the permanent members of the Security Council. Some members I've talked to have told me that because of the devastation of the Russian Federation, they think that some sort of restructuring will probably occur in the next four or five years, anyway. They're just not sure they want to be involved in rocking the boat to make it happen now. That's why it's so important that one of the permanent members of the Security Council make the motion. Quite frankly, they want someone bigger than them to pin it on if the motion fails. If Britain makes the motion, I believe we can pull all or most of the votes from the third world countries that are leaning our way. With that, we'll be within a dozen votes of the two-thirds majority needed for passage.'
'I don't know, Bob,' Hansen interrupted, 'I have no idea how my government will feel about such a motion. It was one thing for me to make a motion when it had no chance in hell of passing, but it's quite another if it might actually come about. I don't even know how I'd be instructed to vote on such a measure.'
'How do you feel about it, personally?' Milner asked.
'As I said, I agree it's unreasonable that five countries should exercise dominance over the U.N., but on the other hand, I'm not sure I know of a better way to run the U.N. and still accomplish as much as we do.' Hansen thought for a moment. 'Hell – off the record – if we could come up with a more equitable approach and it wouldn't bog down the system for lack of direction and leadership, I guess I'd be for it.'
'Would you be willing to work with us to develop such an approach, perhaps based on some regional plan?' asked Sabudu. 'And if we are able to come up with something you're comfortable with, would you present it to your government for consideration?'
Hansen nodded and then said, 'I'll do what I can. But it's possible that even if we can come up with a workable plan and I can persuade my government to support it, I may not be allowed to actually make the motion if it is felt that by doing so we would anger the other permanent members. Is there any possibility that one of the other permanent members would make the motion?'
'We don't think so,' said Milner.
'I see.'
Milner opened his briefcase to retrieve a document. 'To get the ball rolling on this,' he said, 'I've brought along a proposal on restructuring the Security Council based on regional entities. We may want to use it as a point of departure, at least, in developing a final plan.'
Hansen glanced at the document and put it on the table beside him.
'What Secretary Milner has said about your personal sway with the Third World members was not just flattery, Mr. Ambassador,' said Sabudu, becoming more formal to make his point.
'Thank you, Mr. Ambassador,' Hansen responded, in-kind.
'Jon,' Milner said, 'there is one other item which we need to talk about, and I think it may just soften the blow to your government of losing its permanent place on the Council. As you know, in order to ensure impartiality, the Secretary-General has always been selected from among the members of the U.N. who have no ties to any of the permanent members of the Security Council. For years that has served as a major counterweight to the power of the five permanent members on the Security Council. But if the Security Council were reorganized on some other basis, there would be no reason for continuing that requirement. There would be no defensible reason that the Secretary-General shouldn't be from, say, Britain, or the U.S., or any of the other former permanent members of the Council.
'Jon, the Secretary-General has already indicated his intention to retire at the end of this session. If you are the one to make the motion and we can get the votes we need for passage, we believe that you would be the obvious candidate to take his place.'
Jon Hansen took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair.
Li the outside office Jackie Hansen was working at her computer when she looked up to see Christopher Goodman coming in the door. 'Hi, Christopher,' she said. 'How was school?'
'Okay,' he answered. 'Is Mr. Hawthorne here?'
'He's out right now but I expect him back shortly. If you want, you can wait in his office.'
'No, that's okay,' he said. 'I just wanted to let him know that I'd be a little late this evening. I'm going to the seminar and exhibit that the Saudi government is sponsoring. Would you tell him for me?'
'Sure, Christopher,' Jackie answered. 'You seem to stay pretty busy going to all those exhibits.'
'Yeah, it's great. There's a different seminar or exhibit or program to go to every couple of weeks. And some of the exhibits can take days to go through.'
'I envy you,' she said. 'I wish I had the time to take advantage of all the educational programs the U.N. has to offer.'
Jackie saw the Ambassador's door start to open and put her finger to her lips to indicate that they'd have to continue the conversation in a few minutes, after Ambassador Hansen's guests left.
Christopher picked up a magazine to keep busy until he and Jackie could continue their conversation, but before he could start reading, he heard someone call his name. He looked up to see Assistant Secretary-General Milner standing next to Ambassador Hansen, looking straight at him.
'Oh, hello, Secretary Milner,' Christopher answered.
'You two know each other?' Hansen asked Milner.
'Yes,' Milner answered. 'We've bumped into each other on several occasions at some of the exhibits, but we weren't formally introduced until a few days ago when I spoke at Christopher's high school about my 'World Curriculum' project and the goals of the United Nations. He's quite a good student, his teacher tells me. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Christopher went to work for the U.N. himself someday,' concluded Milner, who then turned his full attention back to Hansen and Sabudu.
'As soon as you've had a chance to review the draft document I gave you and to come up with recommendations on how to improve it, please call me and we'll get back together,' Milner told Hansen. 'I'll do that,' answered Hansen.
With that the men shook hands and Milner and Sabudu left. Afterward Hansen told Jackie to inform the senior staff that there would be a 4:30 meeting and they'd all be working a little late.
'Well,' Jackie told Christopher, as soon as Ambassador Hansen closed the door to his office, 'it looks like you'll have plenty of time at the Saudi exhibit. 'I'll give Decker the message for you.'
'Thanks,' said Christopher, as he headed for the door. Before he reached it, though, it opened again. It was Milner.
'Christopher, will you be at the Saudi exhibit this evening?' he asked.
'Yes, sir. I'm going there now.'
'Good, I'll see you there. They have a really wonderful presentation on Islam, including some exquisite models of the mosques in Mecca and Medina.'
Six weeks later – Tel Aviv, Israel
Tom Donafin dabbed his finger across the bristles of his toothbrush to see if he had applied enough toothpaste. Satisfied that he had, he replaced the tube in its assigned spot on the counter by the sink. He had now
