If you harbor dreams of one day leading the United Nations far-flung humanitarian empire, I have some advice: get a British passport. Or if peacekeeping and development are your thing, get a French or Chinese one. Some of the most sought-after cabinet-level jobs in the U.N. system are effectively off-limits to anyone from a country whose government lacks the power to cast vetoes in the U.N. Security Council.
For the rest of the world’s population, get in another line.
Many of the remaining jobs, chairs, or commissions are parceled out on the basis of an arcane rotation system, which gives precedent to U.N. regional groups representing Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and the West. The practice, which has long been a source of frustration for reform-minded U.N. advocates, routinely results in embarrassing and inappropriate appointments: A Saudi diplomat, for instance, will chair the Commission on the Status of Women because, well, it was Saudi Arabia’s turn.