The Next U.N. Leader

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/opinion/the-next-un-leader.html

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To the Editor:

I am wholly supportive of your April 10 editorial “The Race to Run the United Nations,” commending the new openness by the world body in selecting its next secretary general, including arranging public Q. and A. forums for all nominees and giving greater consideration to female candidates.

But I fear that, in the end, the ultimate decision will still come down to a private deal among the United States, Russia and China — who, under United Nations Charter rules, almost exclusively (along with France and Britain) dictate the outcome of the contest.

STEPHEN SCHLESINGER

New York

The writer is the author of “Act of Creation,” about the founding of the United Nations, and a fellow at the Century Foundation.