By Matthew Russell Lee, News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS, May 18 -- The arrest for sex crimes of International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss Kahn, and his interim replacement by his American deputy John Lipsky, have together revived a story exclusively reported by Inner City Press in 2009.
Then, two senior advisers to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told Inner City Press of worries that the US would take over the top spot at the IMF and give the World Bank to China, which in turn would not insist that the UN Secretary General term beginning in 2012 go to an Asian.
Under that theory, if Europe lost the IMF -- as seems even more possible now -- and China got a top Bretton Woods institution spot, the Europeans could make a play for the 2012 UN term.
Until Strauss Kahn's arrest, and now US Treasury Secretary Geithner's call that a formal “interim” replacement be named, quite possibly Lipsky, those close to Ban like South Korea's Permanent Representative to the UN were bragging that a second term for Ban was in the bag.
Now, at least until the IMF situation is resolved, Team Ban's 2009 nightmare scenario is suddenly closer to coming into play.
Eastern Europeans candidates were already circling to succeed Ban, albeit in 2016, among them Srgjan Kerim, Jan Kubis and even Navi Pillay's deputy Ivan Simonovic.
Now Western Europeans may renew interest, if Europe loses the IMF. Staffan de Mistura is said by his staff to be interested. But surely there are others. Watch this site.
