America's Diplomatic Repairman

July 10, 2008— -- Perhaps the toughest repair job in the world belongs to a man who wields not a screwdriver, but a gavel. Zalmay Khalilzad is America's ambassador to the United Nations, an organization the Bush administration seemed to openly scorn for years, and now needs.

Khalilzad has the unenviable job of rebuilding the diplomatic bridges the U.S. has burned over the years.

"Well, I don't see myself that way," he said in reference to the term "repairman." "My style is to be a problem-solver, to bring people together, to work problems, to engage others, to listen, to argue, to be persistent."

His openness and willingness to listen marks a shift from the Bush administration's past approach. But at this late hour in the Bush presidency, what can Khalilzad really accomplish for America at the U.N.?

From the Cuban missile crisis to the debate over Iraq, the U.N. has been the scene of epochal moments in world history. But many Americans are dubious -- they want to know, how effective is the U.N. for Americans today?

"The U.N. does work," said Khalilzad. "But it works slowly. If we can get others to go along with what we want, or if there is a problem where we can come together here, all countries who are members of the Security Council, it gives the decision that much more legitimacy in the eyes of people around the world. And it also reduces the burden on us, if we were to do it alone."

So, all the ambassadors have to pretend to get along -- even if their countries don't.

In the movies, life at the U.N. is glamorous and full of intrigue. Remember Cary Grant, caught up in espionage in "North by Northwest"? And more recently, there was Nicole Kidman in "The Interpreter," overhearing an assassination plot in the General Assembly. In real life, however, the U.N. is a lot more bureaucratic and a lot more social.