Page 13 - DIVA_1_2021

year he was the Representative to the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. Mr Petrovsky
NATO. He headed Soviet delegations strongly favoured “constructive parallel
to the UN and other international and actions” at all conferences on arms
European forums: UNESCO, IAEA, regulations and disarmament. He
UNEP, and OSCE. He also participated often stressed that disarmament, whilst
in the preparation of the Helsinki Final important, is only one of the routes to
Act and the Final Document of the First security. His overarching concept was of
Special Session on Disarmament. human security, meaning security not
only from violence but also from hunger,
In 1992 Secretary-General Boutros- disease and environmental degradation.
Boutros Ghali appointed Mr Petrovsky During this he was also Secretary-
Under-Secretary-General for Political General’s Envoy to Libya (1992-1997),
Affairs at the New York United Nations and Special Representative of the UN
– a vital diplomatic and international Secretary-General in Albania (1998).
position. He was immediately charged His half-century diplomatic career
with chairing the task force for the was either with the UN or linked to
preparation of the “Agenda for Peace”, it, and witnessed the tenure of six
one of the most significant UN United Nations Secretaries-General.
programme documents. He personally His first assignment was in 1957-
contributed to it by devising the 5 Peace 61 as a junior diplomat in the USSR
Principles – methods for controlling Permanent Mission to the UN, during
and resolving conflicts. These are: the tenure of Dag Hammarskjöld, then,
Preventive diplomacy during U Thant’s tenure he worked at
Peace-making the UN Secretariat/Political Affairs.
Peace-keeping Later, he worked closely with Kurt
Peace-building Weildheim and Javier Perez de Cuelliar
Peaceful management. in his USSR Foreign Ministry senior
leadership positions and headed the
Mr Petrovsky had a strong academic USSR delegations during various
background – he was a professor with high-level international forums. From
a PhD in history – and these principles 1992, he worked directly with the UN
are elaborated in his many publications Secretaries-General Boutros-Boutros
such as: ‘The Foreign Service of the Ghali and Kofi Annan as UN Under-
United Kingdom’; ’Diplomacy of Secretary-General. His last UN tenure,
Downing Street 10’; ‘US Foreign Policy as UNOG Director-General and UN
Thinking’; ‘The Doctrine of National Under-Secretary-General, ended after
Security in United States Foreign Policy nine years in the position, in 2002.
Strategy’; ‘Disarmament: Concepts,
Problems, Mechanisms’; and Security in UNOG and Geneva – Mr Petrovsky’s
the Nuclear and Outer Space Era’, ‘The Achievements
Triad of Strategic Security of the Global Strengthening multilateralism.
Community’. Geneva is a great city of multilateralism,
Eventually he was asked to lead the UN dating back 200 years to the Comte
Office in Geneva, to give the somewhat de Sellon’s Peace Society, and more
static office a new impetus and dynamic. recently, in 2019, celebrating the
The same year, in October 1993, he centenary of the League of Nations.
also became Secretary-General of the However, Mr Petrovsky began a new era
Conference on Disarmament, and of multilateralism by making UNOG
personal representative of the Secretary- open to all the new actors on the world
General to the Conference. During his stage, and strongly encouraging close
years in this position, the Conference cooperation between the UN and
concluded the 1996 Comprehensive regional organizations.

w w w. d i va i n t e r n at i o n a l . c h