On a recent Saturday afternoon, he stopped by the sunny window of his Sutton Place residence. In Cairo, my penthouse is on the Nile, so you have the same atmosphere. The sun comes from this side here, and the sun comes up there exactly the same. For four years, he has been watching New York sunrises as he, the world's top diplomat, struggles to balance the interests of 185 countries and about as many leaders determined to safeguard their national interests while looking for jobs for compatriots and relatives. A shroud of despondency hangs over the United Nations, where the largest gathering of world leaders in history takes place this weekend.
Home has to be an oasis, now more than ever.
The backdrop is a home no decorator alone could design, a house shaped by their possessions and personalities. There are Ottoman, Coptic, North African Muslim and Asian artworks on shelves and tables and walls. I was traveling then and had time. In Cairo, my wife was going twice a week to the souk. In 1977, Mr. Boutros-Ghali, who is now 72, became Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in Egypt and began a second career in diplomacy.