A post in which I make several calls for action

I see that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is in the Middle East and asking everyone to behave nicely: Secretary-General Kofi Annan, currently in Beirut on the first leg of his shuttle diplomacy to the Middle East, has called on Israel to lift its blockade of Lebanon and urged Hizbollah to free two captured Israeli soldiers. ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

I see that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is in the Middle East and asking everyone to behave nicely: Secretary-General Kofi Annan, currently in Beirut on the first leg of his shuttle diplomacy to the Middle East, has called on Israel to lift its blockade of Lebanon and urged Hizbollah to free two captured Israeli soldiers. Mr. Annan made his remarks after meeting Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and his cabinet to further discuss implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 that ended the recent month-long conflict between Hizbollah and Israel. ?The Secretary-General? called for the lifting of the Israeli blockade and the return of the Israeli soldiers. He also stressed the importance of having ?one law, one authority and one gun? in Lebanon,? United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York. Let me add my call to Mr. Annan's. [And what will that accomplish?--ed. Nothing... which is pretty much what Kofi's request will accomplish. Hmmm..... while I'm at it, in the interest of international goodwill and peace I urgently call on Salma Hayek to meet with me, sans advisors, for at least two six uninterrupted hours.] If this Financial Times story by Roula Khalaf and Sharmila Devi is correct, I doubt Hezbollah will be listening to Annan anytime soon: "when he toured the devastated areas in the southern Beirut suburbs, Mr Annan was booed by some of the group?s supporters who held pictures of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizbollah chief."

I see that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is in the Middle East and asking everyone to behave nicely:

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, currently in Beirut on the first leg of his shuttle diplomacy to the Middle East, has called on Israel to lift its blockade of Lebanon and urged Hizbollah to free two captured Israeli soldiers. Mr. Annan made his remarks after meeting Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and his cabinet to further discuss implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 that ended the recent month-long conflict between Hizbollah and Israel. ?The Secretary-General? called for the lifting of the Israeli blockade and the return of the Israeli soldiers. He also stressed the importance of having ?one law, one authority and one gun? in Lebanon,? United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

Let me add my call to Mr. Annan’s. [And what will that accomplish?–ed. Nothing… which is pretty much what Kofi’s request will accomplish. Hmmm….. while I’m at it, in the interest of international goodwill and peace I urgently call on Salma Hayek to meet with me, sans advisors, for at least two six uninterrupted hours.] If this Financial Times story by Roula Khalaf and Sharmila Devi is correct, I doubt Hezbollah will be listening to Annan anytime soon: “when he toured the devastated areas in the southern Beirut suburbs, Mr Annan was booed by some of the group?s supporters who held pictures of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizbollah chief.”

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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