Forget betting on sports events; for my money, the most fun thing to gamble on these days is over who will be the next Secretary General of the UN. Kofi Annan is due to retire on December 31, and the battle to replace him has been raging for months.
A few weeks ago, Foreign Policy listed descriptions of all the major contenders, and their odds of replacing Annan, but that article appeared too early to take account of India’s recent nominee, Shashi Tharoor. The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, has come out in favor of dark-horse candidate Bill Clinton, although seeing as how most countries believe in the principle of regional rotation and share a bias for candidates from small countries, a Secretary General Clinton faces tall odds (1000 to 1, according to Foreign Policy). To keep abreast of the action, check out this spirited blog maintained by a University of Maryland grad student.
