As Secretary-General, Ban has lived up to his self-styled vision of being the consummate diplomat, and has made some important gains in tackling the UN's bureaucratic bloat as well as dealing with the Middle East. But on other issues, Ban has failed to live up to the critically important precedent set by his predecessor as Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, who transformed the position to promote human rights and assumed the role of the &quot;world's conscience&quot; when necessary.
作为联合国秘书长，潘基文已经实践了他自称的成为完美外交官的理论，并且在遏制联合国官僚机构膨胀和中东问题上都取得了很大的进展。但是在其他问题上，潘基文没能实践其前任科菲安南在担任联合国秘书长时期创设的重要的先例，科菲安南把这一职位的任务变成推进人权以及在必要时起到“世界良心”的作用。