Thank you, Mrs. Hauser for that very kind introduction. It is a great honour to be invited here to the International Peace Institute by president Terje Rød-Larsen who is not only a distinguished international civil servant, but also a longstanding friend.

And thanks to all the staff of the IPI for all your efforts in hosting this symposium opening the Trygve Lie Center for Peace, Security and Development, and addressing a topic of crucial concern in today’s world politics.

To most Norwegians, Trygve Lie is synonymous with the United Nations. Even today his name carries an inspiring ring of enthusiasm. Of hope and opportunity. Of a world in peace, coming together.

We are all very proud of him and his generation: rebuilding at home and pioneering abroad.

And let me also say that although globalisation has made the world a smaller place, it continues to be a great pleasure to come to New York and its cosmopolitan and inspiring atmosphere. I’m quite sure Trygve Lie must have felt the same.

In preparing a brief speech on a topic related to most of the core issues of today’s international relations, I came to think of the Irish writer, George Bernard Shaw, who once told a speaker that he had 15 minutes to speak. The speaker replied, “15 minutes? How can I tell them all I know in 15 minutes?” Shaw responded: “I advise you to speak very slowly.”

Let me assure you that I will not speak for more than 15 minutes.
 

Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

In 1946, Trygve Lie, a working class man, educated in law, and an experienced war time cabinet minister took office as the United Nations first Secretary-General.

His mission was all-embracing: to create a United Nations as envisioned in the Charter. A world organisation in the cause of peace and security. He himself called it the most impossible job in the world.

62 years later the UN Charter stands out as the most important guideline for international politics and cooperation in the world today.

In 1946 nothing was self-evident. The Charter had been borne out of the lessons of two horrifying world wars; wars that had seen the introducing of means of human destruction unparalleled in history, and a failed League of Nations.

During the formative years of the UN, Trygve Lie and his team experienced overwhelming challenges:

The advent of the Cold War, The Partition Plan for Palestine, the two Chinas, the Korea conflict, weapons of mass destruction, the Kashmir dispute, the unanimity rule of the Security Council and the vetoes applied by the Great Powers, the financing of the organisations, the need to broaden the authority of the office of Secretary-General. 
 

There were many more issues, including what he called "a world-wide crusade against that most ancient enemy of mankind, poverty." Does this sound familiar?

The powers of the World Organisation were limited, its institutions new and largely untried

Nevertheless, Trygve Lie sought to make his office a "source for peace".

And although the Cold War and the investigations against suspected Communists in the UN limited his ability to function properly, many great achievements were secured during his term in office.

The first UN peacekeeping operation, UNTSO (United Nations Truce Supervision Organization) was established in 1948. It is still operative today. The blue helmets have been a UN trademark ever since.

The Universal Declaration for Human Rights was adopted in 1948. 60 years on, the declaration remains a standard by which to measure good governance.

The forerunner of UNDP, the UN Technical Assistance Administration, was approved by the General Assembly in 1949 to assist developing countries in their fight against poverty. Fighting poverty and disease has since been one of the UN’s most important tasks.

His “peace mission” to the capitals of the great powers, promoting a “20-Year Peace Program” was highly ambitious and the result of a visionary intellect. 

And although that plan was also unable to break the deadlock of the Cold War, it showed how Trygve Lie tirelessly sought to create a home for the principles of the Charter.

To give life to many of the high hopes and expectations that surrounded the UN. In that he succeeded in many areas.

And no less important, he created a home for the organisation and its employees in New York.

During its start-up period, the UN administration had to gather at various places such as the Rockefeller Center at 610 Fifth Avenue, and the Waldorf Astoria. A Chinese diplomat was once told to meet at 610 Fifth Avenue. Believing it was room 610 at the Waldorf Astoria, the diplomat along with the UN deputy Secretary-General, Viktor Hoo knocked at the door only to experience an elderly lady telling them that laundry wasn’t needed today!

No doubt, a home for the organisation was a crucial part of creating the symbol of global attention and respect. And easily found meeting rooms!

Trygve Lie’s efforts in securing the location at the Turtle Bay area on Manhattan and the construction of the UN Headquarters as a landmark building will forever remain an astonishing achievement.

When Trygve Lie became Secretary-General, the UN's founders saw the job as essentially bureaucratic, to be filled by a "good chap" who would run the place smoothly, as was once said.

The secretary-general’s role is barely defined by the United Nations Charter. Instead, Trygve Lie had to define the post himself. To give it dignity and honour. And to become the public face of the United Nations.

The role as secretary-general has changed significantly over time. Many responsibilities have been added, and none seems to have left.

Today we expect the secretary-general to act as the world's conscience. Trygve Lie laid the foundation for this role.

He sought an active engagement and put forward high aims for an effective and influential world organisation. In that respect he was more of a general than a secretary in international politics.

When he encountered resistance from the superpowers he experienced the eternal contradiction inherent in the mission of the UN and the post of secretary-general:
The efforts to promote peace and security depend on the goodwill of the member states – and especially the veto-powers.

At the UN’s founding conference in San Francisco in 1945 president Truman stated that “We have all to recognise, no matter how great our strength, that we must deny ourselves the licence to do always as we please”.

Since then, membership of the World Organisation has almost quadrupled. The Cold War has come and gone. And the World Trade Center towers have been crushed.

And since then, many member states, large and small have chosen to do as they please.

Many of us thought that the end of the Cold War would change if not everything – then most things.

But we have once again learned that if member states do not respond, the UN will fail. As it did in Bosnia, Somalia, and Rwanda.

If major countries in the world aren't prepared to do something, the UN simply isn't going to be able to do it either.

This premise was a core challenge to Trygve Lie, and it has been a core challenge to successive secretary-generals ever since.

The High Level Panel on Threats, established by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, stated in 2004 that the United Nations was never intended to be a utopian exercise.

I believe this to be a reminder we would do well to forever bear in mind: The state of the UN reflects the state of the international system of states.

And that is a system of conflicts of interests and value among member states. It has always been so. And it will probably always be so.
 

One of the legacies of Trygve Lie should be that it is as important today as it was in 1945 to combine power with principle. Ignoring underlying power realities will doom recommendations to failure or irrelevance.

Trygve Lie’s successor, Dag Hammerskjold once said that the UN wasn’t created to take humanity to heaven, but to save it from hell.

In that he recognised the potential of humanity – to create a World Organisation of hope as the United Nations. And he recognised the limits of humanity – the pursuit of national interests.

Of course we should place high demands on the UN and its leadership. But we must remember who the UN is. We, the member states, are the UN. For better and for worse.

When I look around today, I see member states furthering their national interests at great costs.

I see member states unable or unwilling to seek compromise and multilateral solutions through UN, in cases of the Middle East, Darfur and Kosovo.

Given the premises for action and the limits of resources, the UN will experience failures in the future, as it has done in the past.

At its best the UN saves lives, and brings real chance for a brighter tomorrow.

At its worst the UN continues along its Cold War superpower structure. Deadlocked and ineffective.

But there is only one United Nations. And its services are in demand more than ever before.

Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

In 1948 Trygve Lie remarked: "There is nothing wrong with the United Nations Charter except the failures to live up to it. There is nothing wrong with the machinery of the United Nations except the failures to use it."

Then, he was right. Now, the world has changed. And so must the UN.

Globalisation gives birth to new great powers. New state actors are changing the global economy. They are changing the rule of the game. The World Organisation must reflect this.

And globalisation hides no secrets. No atrocity goes untold. No state can act in darkness.

When war spread, when crimes are committed or when natural disaster hit, it is brought to our attention instantly by today’s communication technology.

Now we know. But we also know, as we have seen in Bosnia, in Rwanda and most recently in Burma, that action always will be at the mercy of power realities.

However, globalisation is challenging the old world order principle of state sovereignty.

And globalisation is challenging the inaction which this principle so often has caused.

The idea of the UN in our age means that we are all responsible for each other's security. We have a moral obligation to help. To assist. To protect. And globalisation is an everyday reminder of this obligation.

When an individual gets into real trouble it will sooner or later turn to its family. And so it is for states too.

Our history, past and recent, continues to tell us that in doing as it pleases, no state large or small, will succeed over time on its own. Sooner or later it too will turn to its family – the UN family.

It is my hope that the Trygve Lie Senter here at the IPI will contribute to a better understand on how to attune the World Organisation to the realities of today’s international power structure.

And how to make use of the challenge, created by globalisation, to our understanding of international order and politics.

To not give up. But to strengthen and reinforce the international community’s moral obligation to help through the instrument given to us by Harry Truman and his contemporaries, namely the United Nations.

The need for the United Nations is just as great today as it was 62-years ago. It remains indispensable in our efforts to reduce poverty and promote development, peace-building, reconciliation, global security and respect for human rights.

62 years ago, Trygve Lie took the lead in the first crucial years. His legacy is an obligation to us all to maintain our firm support for the World Organisation.

In Norway, children on the 24th of October every year celebrate the official UN-day. Two days ago we celebrated our Constitution Day. Children were waving the Norwegian flag and the UN-flag.

It has become natural to think of us all as the peoples of the United Nations. We are all determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.

And we are all determined to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.

That I believe is the true legacy of Trygve Lie.

The job as secretary-general is an extraordinary job, and only extraordinary people will have the vigour and endurance needed to succeed. Trygve Lie succeeded in many areas. Others have followed. We need them all.

Thank you for your attention.