REPORTER: How do you feel about the fact that this guy, your friend George Bush has appointed as his envoy to the UN is in fact unapologetically an anti-UN person, he has been described as a UN basher.

JOHN HOWARD, AUST. PRIME MINISTER: Never met him.

REPORTER: What do you know about him though?

JOHN HOWARD: I've read about him but I don't think about him a lot and I really don't think we should talk about him.

But when we talked to Kevin Rudd the shadow foreign minister, predictably he was more forthcoming.

KEVIN RUDD, SHADOW FOREIGN MINISTER: But broadly on the ambassador Bolton agenda, I think that's where we, the Labor Party, and the Australian Government really part company. John Bolton's had some pretty vicious things to say on the record about getting rid of the United Nations or effectively dismantling it. We don't think it's good for the world. We don't think it's good for Australia.

Even though the UN was under attack from the Bush neo-cons, the survival plan was almost coming unstuck. The spin doctors here wanted you to believe that everything was rosy in the world body's politically tottering tower. True, the UN coffee nuts kept coffee-ing, the conferencers kept conferencing, the blue screens kept announcing this arcane committee meeting or that, the press boxes were still jammed with obscure releases that will never make it on the news and the UN cafeteria was still crammed with pen pushers and babbling bureaucrats. Everything certainly appeared normal, except that it wasn't.
Meanwhile, here we all were, also waiting for the moment, corralled off from the normal world and decent people in a media holding bay, probably not such a bad idea.
Three years after September 11 in what has to be regarded as a potentially prime target, heavy security is the order of the day, the single greatest difference between the world then and now.
This was the queue, yet another one, to get into the press area to hear George Bush's speech to the General Assembly. To be honest, for all the obvious human reasons, we didn't need to be reminded that we were only a few blocks from what was once the World Trade Centre.

ANNOUNCER: Mr George W Bush, President of the United States of America.

GEORGE BUSH, US PRESIDENT: Mr Secretary General, Mr President, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the privilege of being here for the 60th anniversary for the United Nations.

The big Bush moment finally arrives and when he gets to his feet at this gathering committed to tackling other things, world poverty, ironically the leader of the world's wealthiest nation thanks some of the world's poorest for their generosity in the wake of New Orleans.

GEORGE BUSH: To every nation, every province and every community across the world that is standing with the American people in this hour of need, I offer the thanks of my nation.

Not so surprisingly, he talks long and hard about terrorism and the need for a united, even a United Nations front to fight it.

GEORGE BUSH: Confronting our enemies is essential and so civilised nations will continue to take the fight to the terrorists. We know this world will not be won by force of arms alone. We must defeat the terrorists on the battlefield and we must also defeat them in the battle of ideas.

So what was the end result of all this talking, if indeed there was one. Unfortunately, no definition of terrorism, nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament side tracked, but at least he used the key phrase, millennium goals, the umbrella term John Bolton had taken to with his editorial sythe.
It wasn't easy to get a reaction from 170-odd media shy delegate. In fact this bird's eye view was about as close as you could get to them.
But if you loiter long enough with intent in the corridors of international power, you can bump into the odd unsuspecting delegate.
East Timor's foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta is actually quite positive about the Bush speech.

JOSE RAMOS HORTA, EAST TIMOR FOREIGN MINISTER: I don't think anyone would appoint something wrong with that speech. And obviously if he follows through with the great sounds -

REPORTER: Actions as well as words. It's fantastic to see you.

As former leaders of this giant organisation gaze down on the proceedings, we in the media were still trying to fathom who won out in the US versus the UN battle. Paradoxically back in the General Assembly the message was about working together.

SPEAKER: In this age of globalisation we should regard international cooperation as part of our national interest. The United Nations and the way we approach collective security must be adapted to changing circumstances.

Down the track, in fact on a different day, coming in at around speaker number 150, John Howard's turn.

JOHN HOWARD: Ladies and gentlemen, as one of the original 51 countries to sign the UN charter, Australia has had a long and active involvement in the United Nations.

It was clearly a case of depth rather than length for the Australian PM. His good buddy from Texas, as the host, got 30 minutes. Our bloke more like six. Nevertheless our man at the UN left little doubt that he thought the reform compromise was fine and that the Americans had done the right thing.

JOHN HOWARD: The challenge for the United Nations now is to redefine its authority and responsibility in the global environment in which we find ourselves. Australia, as always, will be an active player in these deliberations. I thank you.

Kevin Rudd told me he thought the prime minister was starting to sound conciliatory.

KEVIN RUDD: I think finally we're getting John Howard to come around a bit on the UN. He and Alexander Downer have been pretty hostile for many years towards the United Nations.

REPORTER: They're almost trying to destroy the multilateralism of the UN, it is pretty tough stuff.

KEVIN RUDD: In the past they have. Look at their attacks on the UN at the time of the Iraq war when the UN were saying guys don't do it, there's no bases from the weapons inspectors for going to war. Mr Downer and Mr Howard ignored that. I think after a fair bit of pressure and criticism, for example, on the millennium development goals, I think they're finally, finally starting to come around a bit and that's why I've tried to be a bit positive on what he's said about Australia's aid level.

REPORTER: As watered down as those goals have become over the last few days.

KEVIN RUDD: Well it hasn't been a great General Assembly or summit when it comes to putting the flesh on the bones of the millennium development goals. At least though I think Ambassador Bolton's attempt to destroy the millennium development goals finally, finally got rolled internally within the administration in Washington.

Where might you ask does all this leave the embattled world body? Needing a little help, maybe. Well across town they were apparently getting it. And any number of world leaders were already heading in that direction.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER US PRESIDENT: Please join me in welcoming the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair, His Majesty, the King of Jordan and United States secretary of State, Condi Rice.

‘Bill's super sit down’ one newspaper called it. ‘Clinton’s first shot at becoming president of the world’ another herald.
Whatever, the man can still pull a crowd and one hell of a panel. And it didn't stop there.
Not putting it too highly the foyer of the Clinton global initiatives plush West Side venue was awash with a veritable A list of the world's most power, most influential, rich and beautiful, all of the above, and the inevitable would be’s if they could be’s. Indeed, the 42nd president of the United States and almost his entire extended family and friends had turned up for his private mini UN. Hillary of course, was there. So was Chelsea, Rupert and Mrs Murdoch. Gareth as in Evans, yes, that's right.

GARETH EVANS, FORMER AUST FOREIGN MINISTER: The UN is essentially no more than the sum of its member states and when they act up and behave as they did this week, deeply disappointing the piranha pool of New York diplomats being utterly consumed with the internal political and not looking at the larger interests we're all consumed about.

Simon Perez. And from the other side of the Jordan, the stunning Queen Rania. Brad, yes, that Brad. And his current other half. And Madeleine, as in Albright.

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER US SECRETARY OF STATE: I think it does compliment the UN and it shows how smart Bill Clinton is, I think it really does lay down some very specific things and I think it was very smart of them to really get this commitment concept going.

But enough of this disgusting global name dropping. In two days Clinton got this bevy of political and corporate luminaries to commit $1.5 billion US to international projects aimed at extreme poverty, climate change, anti terrorism and religious misunderstanding. Sound familiar?
George Stephanopolous was Bill Clinton’s media guru during their White House years together.

REPORTER: George, you know Bill Clinton better than any of us, what's this all about? What's he up to?

GEORGE STEPHANOPOLOUS, FORMER CLINTON ADVISOR: This conference is him. I mean he is the ultimate net worker and in some ways I think he is one of the ultimate do gooders trying to bring his great skill and great compassion together in one initiative. He's done a good job. Look at this crowd.

REPORTER: It's amazing.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOLOUS: And I also think it shows his political intelligence and he knew that if he just had a conference and people walked away without any concrete initiatives he'd get hammered and he's asked for their commitments, he's getting them. I was fairly sceptical but we've already seen more than half a billion dollars in commitments, that is pretty impressive.

REPORTER: If you had to compare in contrast something like the global initiative with the UN, what can something like this that the UN can or can't do?

GEORGE STEPHANOPOLOUS: They're totally different animals but what this can do is a supplement. What you can do when you don't have to work through governments and avoid the politics and you can simply get individuals to make individual commitments, put up their own money, express their own views, organise their own initiatives I think you're more free.

Maybe it was Jesse Jackson who summed it all up.

REPORTER: Maybe he feels he still has a role to play internationally.

JESSE JACKSON: He's kind of like global president.

BILL CLINTON: And I just want to say this about UN reform - a lot needs to be done, I wish the UN General Assembly.

Unlike George Bush and John Bolton Bill Clinton is unashamedly a pro UN -Kofi Annan man. And how about this for a finale.

BILL CLINTON: It works a lot better now than it used to in no small measure because of Secretary General Kofi Annan and I'm proud to be his friend and I'm grateful he's at the helm. I'd like to ask him to come forward for his remarks and then we'll have a little question and answer. Thank you very much.

So after a week of jaw boning, literally about the future of the human race, the flawed ideal that is the UN seems like it will soldier on. Now though, with a little help from the power of personality cult politics that is Bill Clinton.