The under secretary general of the United Nations, Alvaro de Soto, spoke yesterday on the academic quad as Tufts raised the UN flag to celebrate of UN Day.
Although professors seemed pleased with the event, which further strengthened Tufts' ties to the UN, de Soto's tone was less than joyous.
Criticizing the US foreign policy's aversion to establishing governments in foreign lands, he said that post-conflict peace, so-called nation building, is essential. "Unless you help the citizens where internal conflict takes place to create avenues of settlement, you really haven't done your job," de Soto said.
De Soto emphasized the UN's role in nation building, saying the organization is "faced with new problems without passports," such as terrorism, environmental threats, and pandemics.
At Tufts, he also made reference to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, responding to Secretary of State Colin Powell's remarks to Vladimir Putin, the Russian head of state, that the world has entered a new, post-Cold War era.
"I think [Powell] meant that what had come to an end was an era of uncertainty of relations between the United States and Russia, as the successor to the Soviet Union, and that relationship was beginning to be clarified," De Soto said.
In a letter de Soto read, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who spoke last May at Fletcher commencement ceremony, called Tufts an important global institution. "Tufts epitomizes the face of the United States of America that the world appreciates most," wrote Annan, who shared this year's Nobel Peace Prize with the UN.
Tufts' connection to the UN goes far beyond speeches and flag ceremonies. Many professors and students have worked for the UN in the past or plan to in the future. Fletcher student Hinako Toki, who attended the flag raising, volunteered for the UN High Commissioner on Refugees while living in the former Yugoslavia for two years, where she worked with displaced Kosovars.
"Those who served with the UN shared the same feeling looking at the flag on this special day," Toki said. "It shows that the Tufts community is also part of the world."
Fletcher professor Alan Henrikson, president of the UN Association of Greater Boston and the chair of the Fletcher Roundtable on a New World Order, first proposed to bring the UN to campus.
The Fletcher school, renowned for its international law program, provides training for diplomats and non-governmental organizations workers, with courses on foreign policy, international criminal law, and human rights.
"Many of us came to Fletcher because we want to be part of the UN, to improve the situation in our countries and around the world," said Tania Chavarria, a Fletcher student from Nicaragua.
Dean of Admissions David Cuttino speculated that the ceremony could become an annual fixture on campus. "There is an ongoing effort in all parts of the University to support the understanding of operating in a global community," he said. "There is an enthusiasm for anything that encourages that kind of perspective and broader understanding."
Students shared Cuttino's enthusiasm, including the few undergraduates who attended the early-morning ceremony. "I hope this tradition will continue," said Aditi Chawla, an IR major who works for the international relations journal Hemispheres. "This kind of event will make people outside of Tufts and people on campus more aware of the international focus."
De Soto has a personal connection to Tufts, as his son Lucas is a freshman.
A native of Peru, de Soto has been Annan's Special Advisor on Cyprus since 1999. He has worked at the UN for 20 years and served as assistant secretary-general for political affairs, covering the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, from 1995 to 1999. From 1990 to 1991, he led the negotiations which ended the decade-long war in El Salvador.
