Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-34954086-20130320032310/@comment-4928331-20130320140745

The position of UN General Secretary may come with great prestige, but there's precious little Ban Ki-Moon (and before him, Kofi Annan) can do. He can't do anything useful without the approval of the entire Security Council.

Being U.S. President confers much more power. And even then, Obama's hands are more or less tied thanks to a hostile Congress.