There is not much that diplomats can agree on today. But if asked about the state of the world ahead of the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly, heads of state and government and ministers alike will describe a planet in enormous turmoil.
With two escalating wars raging in Europe and the Middle East, a transforming global economy and a changing world order, international leaders arrive in New York on Tuesday with a radically different outlook than this time last year.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently told reporters: “World leaders will meet at the United Nations in an era of profound uncertainty. At the same time, power is shifting. The world is changing. And our institutions must change with it.”
In just the past nine months, the world has witnessed the bold US military operation that removed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power, as well as a deadly crackdown in Iran after tens of thousands of pro-government protesters took to the streets to challenge the country’s theocracy. Shortly after, the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Tehran, kicking off an ongoing and expanding conflict that now involves nearly every country in the region and has since led to the de facto closure of a crucial sea lane.
Meanwhile, the more than four-year war between Russia and Ukraine shows no signs of ending, as both sides have only intensified military attacks in recent days, while numerous diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have failed to break through.
In May, an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda raised further questions about the lack of international preparedness for the next pandemic. Deadly earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia, as well as massive flash floods in Nepal and Tibet, highlighted the worsening impact of human-caused global warming on communities around the world.
1/11 | In images: the desperate journey of relatives in search of their loved ones in hospitals in Venezuela. Thousands of people are looking for one or more family members in the midst of anguish. Photos of children, elderly people, couples, along with their names and description, as well as a telephone number to receive information, flood the walls of hospitals. – Raul Martinez
In interviews ahead of the annual meeting, current and former ministers, ambassadors and officials from around the world painted a bleak picture of the crises plaguing the international community and whether the UN and its 193 member states can address them. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity so they could speak freely about international concerns.
“It’s a critical time to try to see if some of these issues can be resolved diplomatically. The U.N. is really at a turning point. There’s no doubt about it. Last year was bad. This year is not much better,” former U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood, who worked in the U.S. delegation to the United Nations under Republican and Democratic leaders, told The Associated Press.
A European diplomat and another official agreed with that assessment, noting that the world is not in a better situation than this time last year and that things have become even more unstable. The diplomat and officials, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly about their concerns, cited the various attacks on international law, the collapse or absence of mediation efforts, and the persistent failure to find a global consensus on issues such as climate and peace and security.
In addition to closely analyzing the speeches of prominent figures such as United States President Donald Trump; the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and the President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian; Officials hope to use the annual meeting to talk with adversaries and allies, with the intention of unlocking issues such as maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz and uncontrolled artificial intelligence, among others.
Asked what they hoped to get out of the week of meetings, one Gulf official said it would be great to return to a level of predictability on the world stage.
Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tone Kajzer said: “In international relations, everything is changing: friendships are changing and alliances are changing. But what remains constant are interests and how to align those interests so that we live in peace and not in permanent conflict.”
This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.