Since at least Dag Hammarskjöld's time, the Secretary-General of the United Nations has played an important role in the UN's mission to maintain international peace and security, whether as a result of delegated power or through individual initiative. Chapter 4 by James Cockayne and David M. Malone in this volume examined the activities of all the Secretaries-General in front-line work and behind-the-scenes diplomacy in this sphere. Chapter 5 by Teresa Whitfield in this volume looked more closely at a particular form of diplomacy employed by the Secretary-General: the “group of friends”. Without a doubt, action has been a large part of the Secretary-General's armoury in helping to maintain international peace and security. But what about words? To what extent can and should the Secretary-General make use of the “bully pulpit” of the office in this context?

In the very delicate environment following the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Kofi Annan's September 2004 pronouncement on the legality of the war in Iraq generated a predictably severe reaction from the United States and its allies in the “coalition of the willing”. That reaction illustrates the risks inherent in what the Secretary-General chooses to say, particularly in public, about matters of peace and security.