Peter T. King Quotes

The U.N. was created for people.

The U.N. is one of many competitors in a marketplace of global problem solving.

As I prepare for my second term as Secretary-General, I am thinking hard about how we can meet the expectations of the millions of people who see the U.N.'s blue flag as a banner of hope. We have to continue our life-saving work in peacekeeping, human rights, development and humanitarian relief.

The United Nations will be at the heart of our international activities. France will assume its full responsibilities at the Security Council by putting its status at the service of peace, respect for human rights and development.

I have concluded that the U.N. can do a few things well.

The purpose of the United Nations should be to protect the essential sovereignty of nations, large and small.

I think U.N. organizations are important organizations. They exist for good reasons. And we also admit that there is room for us to improve the way we do business. The WHO will be a very positive and proactive partner in the overall U.N. reform, which is also important.

The United Nations remains our most important global actor. These days we are continuously reminded of the enormous responsibility of the Security Council to uphold international peace and stability.

We have actively sought and are actively seeking to make the United Nations an effective instrument of international cooperation.

The U.N.'s impartiality allows it to negotiate and operate in some of the toughest places in the world. And time and again, studies have shown that U.N. peacekeeping is far more effective and done with far less money than what any government can do on its own.

Of course the UN brings in a lot of moral authority.

I look forward to strengthening the U.S.-U.N. partnership and working closely with Secretary of State Kerry towards our shared goals of peace, development, and human rights.

The United Nations system is still the best instrument for making the world less fragile.

The League is dead; long live the United Nations.

[Describing the United Nations:] ... a beehive without honey ... a chaotic and sterile maelstrom

The UN is ultimately going to be judged on its ability in conflict resolution and conflict prevention.

The best thing that most Americans can say about the UN is that it is ineffectual. That’s the best thing.

The main thing that endears the United Nations to member governments, and so enables it to survive, is its proven capacity to fail, and to be seen to fail. If there is something you are expected to do, but don't want to do, or even have done for you, you can safely appeal to the UN in the comfortable certainty that it will let you down.

I worked at the United Nations.

I am totally committed to the cooperation between the African Union and the United Nations.

We need a relevant and efficient United Nations.

The U.N. system, born after the Second World War, collapsed. It's worthless.

The key to U.N. reform is giving Americans a clearer picture of what the U.N. is and what it isn't, what it can be and what it can't be.

The U.N. is much more than the case of Iraq.

In the euphoria after the Cold War, there was a misplaced notion that the UN could solve every problem anywhere.