SCOPE: Swedish diplomat Salander has unique background

Japan Policy & Politics, Nov 15, 2004

NEW YORK, Nov. 9 Kyodo

Henrik Salander is an extraordinary man who made a name for himself as a ''rock star'' with several hit songs before hanging up his guitar, going to university and joining the Swedish foreign service.

Salander, who holds the title of ambassador, recently became secretary general of the independent international organization Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, organized by Hans Blix, former chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Committee (UNMOVIC).

But Salander again displayed his knack for music on April 19, 2002 at the end of the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2005 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The closing session in the No. 4 conference room at the U.N. headquarters in New York saw an unusual event.

Wearing a suit and holding a guitar, Salander made the chair's summary to the tune of the Beatles' ''Yesterday.''

He sang, ''Summary - On Only My Responsibility.''

The atmosphere in the conference hall where delegates had been exchanging arguments lightened as he continued to sing and soon a burst of laughter and applause came from the diplomats of various countries and members of nongovernmental organizations (NGO) filling the room.

''The night before the final session, I wrote new lyrics to 'Yesterday,' with a message about the Prepcom and NPT,'' Salander said. ''I had a guitar behind the stage.''

Salander drew attention from nations calling for nuclear disarmament.

Relevant NGO officials gave him high marks for being a diplomat acting as a bridge not only between nuclear and nonnuclear nations but also between governments and NGOs.

The focus of international attention concerning nuclear problems concentrated on nuclear proliferation following the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

Subsequently, other issues came up, such as the unfathomable ''nuclear black market'' allegedly centering on Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan of Pakistan, suspicions of nuclear development by North Korea and Iran and the revelation of unreported nuclear-related experiments by South Korea.

Meanwhile, the administration of U.S. president George W. Bush appears to be increasingly inclined to carry out preemptive assaults in its war on terror and to develop small-sized nuclear weapons.

The nuclear powers seem to have turned their backs on the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Sweden is the core of the seven-nation New Agenda Coalition (NAC) that also includes Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand and South Africa.

Salander was the diplomat who pulled the NAC members together while they pressed the nuclear states to eliminate nuclear arms.

South Africa and Brazil have declared in the past they will not develop nuclear weapons.

Though not widely known, Sweden went ahead with the development of nuclear weapons in the 1950s but later abandoned the project.

The Swedish diplomat takes pride in saying that the NAC is a coalition of credible middle-sized countries that are geared toward attaining security without relying on nuclear weapons even though they have the technologies and abilities to develop them.

The NAC came into being close on the heels of nuclear weapons tests conducted by India and Pakistan in 1998.

It actively worked together with NGOs during the 2000 Review Conference of the NPT, held tough negotiations daily with nuclear states, drove them to a crucial moment and had them pledge their ''unequivocal understanding'' of the complete elimination of nuclear weapons.

Felicity Hill, peace and security consultant to the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFAM), said the NAC was able to breathe new life into the world of nuclear disarmament.

''It was also incredibly exciting for NGOs,'' she said, describing Salander as ''the only diplomat with personality.''

Salander was born in Stockholm in September 1945, a month after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

He organized the rock band ''The Hounds'' with friends at the age of 19 and had several songs on the ''Top-10'' charts before bringing his music career to an end at age 22 to go to university.

''I was interested in both music and political science from a young age,'' he said.

Since joining the Swedish Foreign Ministry, he has spent 15 years in New York and Geneva to deal with disarmament.

Commenting on rock music and diplomacy, he said they have at least one thing in common: ''In multilateral diplomacy, you work on a stage most of the time, often performing in front of an audience. So in that respect I had a lot of training, going on stage as a musician and meeting an audience almost every night for three years as a younger man. I never forget my stage. I don't think that there is someone who had such an exciting experience as me. So I'm happy with that.''

Speaking on the nuclear policy of the Bush administration, he said, ''I'm not saying that they are wrong in pointing to North Korea, Iran and other problems. Nuclear proliferation is extremely serious so the Bush administration is right in that.