2007/01/09
FT: A scary vacuum in world leadership
Published: December 27 2006 02:00 | Last updated: December 27 2006 02:00
The year 2007 will see a changing of the guard in the world's political leadership. The political careers of Kofi Annan, Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac are coming to a close. The secretary-general of the United Nations steps down on December 31, a new French president will be elected in May and Britain's prime minister is expected finally to quit 10 Downing Street by early summer.
The flux in global leadership will not end there. Both Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush are scheduled to leave office in 2008. That means the heads of government of four of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the secretary-general himself will all change in the course of less than two years.
