He recently told the media that he would give priority to resolving issues in the Middle East, including the conflict between Lebanon and Israel and the Palestinian issue. He said he would work to bring about substantial progress in the six-party talks aimed at ending the North Korean nuclear crisis. He will also appoint a special envoy on this issue.

Of course, it will be an uphill battle for Ban to resolve these issues in his five-year term. On the one hand, the problems are difficult to deal with as they all involve deep-rooted historical backgrounds and clashes of diverse interests. On the other hand, as the UN secretary general, he is supposed to find a point of convergence after balancing the interests of all countries instead of skewing in favor of a particular party.

Given these factors, great wisdom and diplomatic skills are required in order to reach his goals. When it comes to running the UN, anxiety about quick progress should give way to patience and a gradual approach, while vacillation should be replaced by perseverance.

Welcoming Ban shortly after his appointment, Kofi Annan, Ban’s immediate predecessor, noted that more that 50 years ago, the first UN secretary general, Trygve Lie, greeted his successor, Dag Hammarskjold, by saying: “You are about to take over the most impossible job on Earth.” And, while that might be true, Annan said he would add “this is also the best possible job on Earth.”

While concentrating on regional and international hotspot issues, Ban is expected to carry on the UN reform conceived by his predecessors, including Annan. In other words, he should herald a new stage of the reform. In fact, he has indicated that he will address this matter at an appropriate time.

UN reform has profound implications. “This may be a moment no less decisive than 1945 itself, when the United Nations was founded,” Annan told the UN General Assembly in 2003, calling for changes in the world body. The reform should consolidate the UN’s status as the only and most authoritative intergovernmental organization in the world.

“Proliferation of the unilateral and lawless use of force,” a concern of the former secretary general, should be prevented. The reform should ensure the UN’s key role in addressing the problems resulting from globalization, especially in offering tangible aid to the least developed countries to lift them out of poverty. It should also improve the UN’s competence in dealing with social problems derived from environmental degradation, drug trafficking, human trafficking, gender inequality and the spread of HIV/AIDS. The UN is expected to take effective and workable measures in this regard. With the reform, the UN Secretariat should become more streamlined, creative, efficient and clean.

To meet these expectations, major efforts should be committed to the reform of the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council.