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THE UN is often accused of meddling, only to be called upon when disaster strikes—and then blamed for not stepping in sooner. Sometimes the sneering is deserved. The UN is unwieldy, and hamstrung by big-power rivalries and small-power greed. Yet it matters. It is often the only outfit that can get combatants round a table and go into the most dangerous places. That can make the difference between life and death.So it matters, too, who is the UN’s secretary-general. The job was described by the first to hold it as the “most impossible…on this earth”. Yet the person in charge can affect the lives of some of the world’s least fortunate, which is why the next incumbent must be the best on offer (see ).