The Kennedy School of Government (KSG) recently named Sir Kieran Prendergast as its Goodman United Nations Fellow for the 2005-2006 academic year. During his time at the KSG, Prendergast will be associated with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

As the chief political officer for Kofi Annan, Prendergast has held the post of Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs at the United Nations (U.N.) headquarters in New York since March 1997.

Candidates for the fellowship, nominated jointly by the U.N. Secretary General and the KSG, undergo an initial internal U.N. screening before the secretary general recommends finalists to the KSG. The KSG and U.N. then choose the Goodman fellow together.

While completing his service at the U.N., Prendergast will prepare a report for Annan on ways to improve its department of political affairs, according to Kirkpatrick Professor of International Affairs John G. Ruggie.

“Kofi Annan has asked me in particular to give him my views on how we might better organise ourselves to prevent and resolve conflict, including the support we provide to peace negotiators,” Prendergast, currently in Cyprus for government negotiations, wrote in an e-mail.

According to Juliette N. Kayyem ’91—executive director for research at the Belfer Center—Prendergast will have the opportunity to interact with students and faculty. In addition to working on his own research, he will participate in classes and seminars.

“To have someone here who has had such extensive experience is beneficial to us as scholars and to our students and to our fellows who will join the U.N. or international organizations,” Kayyem says.

Director of the Belfer Center’s Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution Robert I. Rotberg described Prendergast as a “consummate diplomat.”

“He has been a key diplomat in the U.N. and he’s been involved in every political and peace-keeping endeavor in the U.N. since his time there,” says Rotberg, who worked with Prendergast at the U.N. “[On] any issue of any relevance, he’s had a role in solving the problems.”

Ruggie, former assistant secretary general at the U.N. and a close colleague of Prendergast, praises his approach.

“For a diplomat, he is unusually blunt and direct, and he has a great sense of humor,” he says.

Recently Prendergast attracted attention in the United States because of his fervent opposition to U.S. policy in Iraq. Clashing repeatedly with American officials, he opposed the return of U.N. international staff to Iraq after the devastating August 2003 attack on the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

Kayyem says that Prendergast’s comments about the Iraqi war had no bearing on his appointment, citing the broad range of views among faculty members at the Belfer Center.

But Rotberg suggests that his political stance may have affected his availability. U.S. officials opposed Prendergast’s attempts to become the Secretary General’s special envoy to the Middle East.

“[His views] played a role in his not getting another U.N. position because of opposition in Washington,” Rotberg says. “If anything, it worked in his favor [for the fellowship].”

Named in honor of Roy M. Goodman ’51—president and CEO of the U.N. Development Corporation—the Goodman Fellowship was first offered in 2004-2005 to Bertie Ramcharan, the acting U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. The fellowship is designed specifically to bring senior members of the U.N. with diverse backgrounds to the KSG.