After Dinner Speakers: Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Oprah Winfrey, Alan M Dershowittz

Boutros Boutros-Ghali was born in 1922 to a prominent Coptic Christian family in Egypt. He graduated from the University of Cairo in 1946 with a bachelor's degree, and went on to earn a doctorate in international law in 1949 from the Sorbonne in Paris. Boutros-Ghali pursued postdoctoral work at Columbia University in New York City, and then assumed a post as professor of international law and international affairs at the University of Cairo. He worked as a journalist, writing for the daily Al Ahram. In addition, Boutros-Ghali held teaching posts at Princeton University in the United States, and at universities in India, Poland, and Tanzania. In 1977 Boutros-Ghali left his teaching posts to serve in the Egyptian government as a Minister ofState for Foreign Affairs. He later headed the negotiating team that crafted the agreement Camp David Accords with Israel. Boutros-Ghali never became foreign minister, however, because it was a position traditionally reserved for Muslims. Boutros-Ghali went on to build a career as an international statesman. An expert on development issues, he authored studies and articles on the disparity in wealth between rich and poor countries. In addition, Boutros-Ghali negotiated agreements in several African conflicts, and his efforts helped win the prison release of South African leader Nelson Mandela. Boutros-Ghali was elected to the position of 6th Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) in November 1991, based on many qualifications: his reputation as a negotiator; his first-name relationship with government officials in the East and the West; his fluency in Arabic, French, and English; and UN members' strong desire for an African in that position. Boutros-Ghali faced a difficult tenure as head of the UN, however. His term in office began in 1992, when the world was reorganizing politically in the wake of the Cold War. Boutros-Ghali attempted to negotiate several post-Cold War conflicts with limited success. He supported sending UN peacekeeping troops to trouble spots around the globe, including the former Yugoslavia, Somalia, and Rwanda. He was, however, outspoken and independent—traits that did not sit well with some member countries, most importantly the United States. Although the majority of member nations supported Boutros-Ghali for re-election to a second five-year term in 1996, the United States, which was dissatisfied with his performance, forced his ouster, to be replaced by Kofi Annan. In his speeches, Mr. Boutros-Ghali calls upon his experience as an international peacekeeper to outline the geopolitical balance of power today. What are the global conflicts currently straining international diplomatic relations, and by what tactics can we promote world peace and security in the millennium ahead?