Friday, October 24, 2003

Bill Clinton: Secretary-General?

Not that this is a new idea, but how cool would it be for Bill Clinton to become the Secretary-General of the United Nations after Kofi Annan steps down? Interestingly enough, there has never been a Secretary-General from North America, so in a way he'd even be breaking some ground. I only bring this up because of the recent story (which I heard on The World tonight) where Bill Clinton brokered a deal to lower the cost of the AIDS cocktail of drugs in the developing countries from its current price of about $1.50 a day per patient to less than 40 cents a day. Needless to say, this is a huge improvement and a vital change for aid agencies and poor countries that desperately need affordable drugs for their populations. It also boosts the already quite positive international profile of Clinton only a few years before Kofi is due for retirement in 2006. It should be interesting to see how it all pans out in the next two years.

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