Little time left to conquer
By Mona Anis
Because his career, both as an academic and as a diplomat, has always been marked by a desire to conciliate, because so many of his most familiar books are intellectually continuous with this desire to appease, and because he writes in what is usually the most understated, often lacklustre, Arabic prose, it comes as a surprise to find that Boutros Boutros-Ghali's latest book, Waiting for a Full Moon, which appeared in Cairo only a few weeks ago, has become a best-seller requiring many hours of searching in bookshops before a copy can be found. And this is not the only surprise, for Ghali himself -- always a celebrity in his native Egypt, but never a very popular figure among his fellow citizens -- has become, thanks to the TV talk shows, quite endearing these days, people discovering the witty, exuberant and mischievous character that he is.
Waiting for a Full Moon comprises entries from Ghali's diary written between 31 December 1996 and 31 December 2002. New Year's eve for 1996 he spent in New York, a city he was to leave the following morning since that was his last day as Secretary-General of the United Nations, while he spent the 2002 New Year's eve in Cairo, where he had returned following a five- year residency in Paris as Secretary- General of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (1998-2002). Thus, with the exception of one year, 1997, the greater part of this book is dedicated to years spent in a post of far less consequence in the international arena than the one Ghali had occupied at the UN for five years, a period dealt with in detail in his previous book Unvanquished: A U.S.-U.N. Saga (I.B Tauris: London and New York, 1999).
Unlike Unvanquished, Ghali's latest book has no major revelations to make, nor does its author have any illusions about what prompted the US administration to deny him a second term in office at the UN, something never experienced before by any other Secretary-General. Indeed, this book seems to be very much a sober afterthought on the whole experience, and some of the most interesting and intimate entries in it have to do with the aftermath of this episode, which seems to have left an indelible mark on Ghali.
On 31 December 1996, for example, Ghali writes: "Life continues... I promised Emannuel, my brother-in-law, to attend the reception he is giving. All my New York friends will be there, but I have become a mere spectator watching an indifferent society immersed in perfume, champagne and laughter... I have taken a decision to disappear before the clock strikes midnight, in order to avoid bidding 1996 -- not a good year for me-- farewell." And on 31 December 2002 he writes: "New Year's dinner in Zamalek among old friends... We all leave before midnight, before the rowdy masses fill the streets of Cairo... Tonight I am desperate. There is very little time left to think, to work, to build, very little time for me to conquer the world. A few more moons, and then...a full moon."
A full moon, which gives the book its title and is also the last phrase on the final page, is something that Ghali says he has been waiting for since September 1994. On that date, and while still UN Secretary- General, he was on an official visit to India during which he met --in secret --one of the country's most famous fortune-tellers. Ghali asked the man about his chances of running for a second term as UN Secretary- General, to which the fortune-teller replied that he did not think Ghali would succeed. However, he told him, "your star will shine even brighter once you have finished your duties. This will happen after you have passed one thousand moons. Then your star will shine with a glow the like of which has never been seen before." Since hearing this, Ghali says, he has "often wondered about the symbolism of a light that is supposed to shine on my late days." Yet, one cannot help feeling that the image of the full moon Ghali is waiting for is not as optimistic as it appears to be. But then, other than the direct comments on current events, everything in this book is expressed with such ambiguity that one is often at a loss trying to decipher the author's real meaning beneath the deceptive surface of his words.
However, between the first entry of the diary and the last there is a wealth of candid material and anecdotes to enjoy, and it is refreshing to find Ghali, the seasoned diplomat and shrewd survivalist who conducted his professional life for more than half a century according to the slogan "il faut plaire aux souverains" (rulers must be kept happy), not giving a lot of thought to conquering anything much any more. So much so, in fact, that his unsparing commentary on some of Egypt's top officials, including President Mubarak himself, has been quoted by many of Egypt's opposition papers.
On 4 January 1997, for example, Ghali pays a visit to Mubarak to discuss his candidacy for La Francophonie, describing the meeting as follows: "President Hosni Mubarak received me for more than an hour. He was wearing an extremely elegant grey suit and a light blue shirt. He seemed very relaxed, and I could glimpse in his looks a degree of gloating. 'Didn't I tell you not to challenge the Americans?' he said with a wide smile, adding, 'had you been nicer to Madeleine Albright, you would have been re-elected.'"
By the first of February, Ghali is taking up residence in Paris, preparing his campaign for the Francophonie post. Before leaving Cairo, he writes in his 10 January entry: "Alone in my big study overlooking the Nile, which I never tire of looking at. Was I right in choosing to leave Cairo?" It is a question that recurs throughout the book without ever finding a satisfactory answer.
In Paris, he goes to a dinner held at the Egyptian embassy in honour of President Mubarak and his wife, where the question of discrimination against the Copts in Egypt is raised. Ghali writes: "The president expresses his dissatisfaction, as for him Copts and Muslims are primarily Egyptian citizens. When Foreign Minister Amr Moussa tries to draw his attention to the fact that in some small towns in Upper Egypt cases of discrimination have occurred, the president opposes him vehemently. For him, there is no discrimination whatsoever."
When Ghali returns to Egypt after finishing his tenure as Secretary-General of La Francophonie, the first entry of his diary for Christmas 2002 describes the coldness of his flat, "as if Egypt is making me pay the price for my disloyalty." On 30 December he writes, "I have spent the last three days talking to various members of the government and the opposition, and, in particular, to representatives of the new generation. I spent more than one hour this morning talking to the prime minister. I am not sure whether he is truly optimistic, or whether his job at the helm of the executive imposes this optimism on him. I came out of all these meetings frustrated and desperate."
There is no escaping the fact that this book reveals quite a lot of pessimism regarding the way things are heading in Egypt, for which Ghali has a very strong attachment, though one that is often expressed in the form of despair. Part of the despair Ghali feels seems to stem from the fact that he cannot vent his frustration in public the way somebody like film director Youssef Chahine, for example, is able to do. When French TV presenter Bernard Pivot hosts Chahine and Ghali on his famous TV show Bouillon de culture, Ghali does not approve of Chahine's behaviour, though he envies him his ability to voice his opposition. "When the discussion began, he got quite agitated, and I did my best not to be dragged into playing his game. I tactfully avoided any confrontation ... but I was also playing a game of my own. I played the role of an old septuagenarian who can bear, with a happy smile -- 'diplomatic' Pivot called it -- the mischief of a reckless young student, which is the role Chahine was playing. I envy him that role. He can criticise the Egyptian government, whereas duty obliges me to show restraint."
Finally, this book, gripping and enjoyable as it is, has one serious drawback, and that is the lack of any serious copy- editing. It is clear that Ghali's diaries were not originally written in Arabic, and that they have been translated from a foreign language, possibly French, though there is no translator's name on the book to blame for the clumsy Arabic syntax. Tighter editorial control would have rendered this book much more enjoyable and would have corrected the many typos.
Reviewed by Mona Anis
C a p t i o n : Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/756/bo4.htm