"Reform or rupture"at the UN General Assembly
Glimpses of the new world in speeches by world leaders and UN Secretary-General
Big story: "reform or rupture"at the UN
The annual General Assembly meeting of the United Nations began this week. World leaders outlined how they see the multipolar world. Will it reform or rupture?
Our world is becoming unhinged. Geopolitical tensions are rising. Global challenges are mounting. And we seem incapable of coming together to respond. We confront a host of existential threats — from the climate crisis to disruptive technologies — and we do so at a time of chaotic transition.
(UN Secretary-General António Guterres, speech to UN General Assembly, 19 September 2023)
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I will seek insights to how the ‘polycrisis’ is unravelling across seven dimensions that shape our experience of this crisis: great power rivalry, political order, cultural renewal, social fragmentation, war, economics, and environment.
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Great power rivalry
The five Great States or superpowers of the world will set out their visions of the changing world order, and their understanding of their opponents, with more or less diplomatic language, at the UN General Assembly. I have read the speeches, and and you can make up your own mind about who might bring us back to the path of dialogue and diplomacy.
USA (Biden), displayed the usual US strategic narcissism, with echoes of Blinken power and promise speech from last week. This hackneyed line - “Let’s bend the arc of history for the good of the world” - encapsulates American decline.
The President of the EU spoke at the UN Security Council discussion on Ukraine, and projected Europe’s dark shadow (“The Kremlin dreams of restoring the old Russian empire”). The German Chancellor echoed NATO positions, (Patronising the Global SOuth countries who had “excessively high demands” for UN Security Council reform and claiming that “in the multipolar world of the twenty-first century, we do not see a place for revisionism and imperialism.”)
India, China and Russia will speak in later sessions, and I will report on their leaders’ speeches then.
Political Order
The great power rivalries are placing demands on all political leaders around the world, and many complain they are being found wanting. In some countries large political protests are emerging against NATO governments supporting the war in Ukraine. For example, there were very large protests in Czechia this week.
The UN Secretary General also issued a plea for reform of the international political order including the long overdue reform of the UN Security Council. The speech is well worth a read. Its call for robust multilateral institutions is a sign of hope.
The world has changed. Our institutions have not. We cannot effectively address problems as they are if institutions do not reflect the world as it is. Instead of solving problems, they risk becoming part of the problem. And indeed, divides are deepening: divides among economic and military Powers, divides between north and south, east and west. We are inching ever closer to a great fracture in economic and financial systems and trade relations, one that threatens a single, open internet, with diverging strategies on technology and artificial intelligence, and potentially clashing security frameworks.
It is high time to renew multilateral institutions based on twenty-first century economic and political realities, rooted in equity, solidarity and universality and anchored in the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law. That means reforming the Security Council in line with the world of today. It means redesigning the international financial architecture so that it becomes truly universal and serves as a global safety net for developing countries in trouble.
Social Fragmentation
The President of Brazil by convention delivers the first national speech at the General Assembly. President Lula speech emphasises the critical importance of all countries recommiting to Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular to address inequality. His speech is noteworthy also in its support for the broad agenda of BRICS and the Global South, rather than the “international rules-based order and US hegemony.
The world is increasingly unequal. The 10 richest billionaires have more wealth than the poorest 40% of humanity. The destiny of every child born on this planet seems to be decided while they are still in their mother's womb. The part of the world where their parents live and the social class their family belongs to will determine whether or not that child will have opportunities throughout life.
First of all, we must overcome resignation, which makes us accept such unfairness as a natural phenomenon. There is a lack of political will from those who govern the world, in order to overcome inequality.
Cultural Renewal
Incidentally, on cultural issues Lula commented on the outrage to “press freedom” that is the American led charges against Julian Assange. Do not expect Australia, that passenger on the Pequod of American geopolitical strategy to follow suit.
The symphony of civilizations, and the many possibilities of diverse world cultures were symbolically demonstrated by Iranian President Raisi during his speech. He noted non-Western states are pursuing economic, political and people-to-people ties with one another, while Western powers seek to isolate, shame and cancel them.
The global landscape is undergoing a paradigm shift towards an emerging international order, a trajectory that is not reversible As non-Western powers have emerged, there is a collective hope for a novel and equitable world order. The Islamic Republic of Iran advocates maximum economic and political convergence and is interested in interacting with the global community under the principle of justice.
He then raised the Quran, and said
the holy book beckons humanity towards rationality, spirituality, the truth and justice. It expounds upon the unity of mankind proclaiming all earthly inhabitants it seeks to guide all towards human dignity… and speaks of equality among humans.
War
But war stalked the assembly hall as it so often has. The Ukrainian President delivered a weird rant in which he appeared to call for the use of nuclear weapons against Russia.
The Third World War was seen as a nuclear war. A conflict between states on the highway to nukes. Other wars seemed less scary compared to a threat of the so-called “great powers” firing their nuclear stockpiles. So, the 20th century taught the world to restrain from the use of the weapons of mass destruction – not to deploy, not to proliferate, not to threaten with, and not to test, but to promote a complete nuclear disarmament. Frankly, this is a good strategy. But it should not be the only strategy to protect the world from this final war.
He provided a piece of bad world history, with the complaint that Ukraine “gave up” its nuclear arsenal in 1991. To judge this history, read Zubok, Collapse: the Fall of the Soviet Union. To judge the stability and good faith of the khaki Ukrainian leadership, I suggest you watch this speech on the UN YouTube channel, rather than read in text.
More soberly the South African President Ramaphosa delivered a wise speech, which discussed the African initiative to bring peace in Ukraine; but not a Hollywood peace, rather a fair, comprehensive and durable peace. He also placed the conflcit in Ukraine in conflict by referring to the many conflicts on the African continent, in which regrettably the US plays a shadowy role. “As we confront other conflicts in several parts of the world, including on our continent Africa,” the leading figure in BRICS and the African Union said “we need to be investing in prevention and peacebuilding.”
Environment
The Assembly heard some grim news on progress with sustaiable development goals and climate action.
The Big Story
"Reform or Rupture" at the UN. A Tale of Three Summits, Three Meetings and Three Diplomatic Virtuosos
The annual General Assembly meeting of the United Nations began this week. World leaders outlined how they see the multipolar world. Will it reform or rupture?
Our world is becoming unhinged. Geopolitical tensions are rising. Global challenges are mounting. And we seem incapable of coming together to respond. We confront a host of existential threats — from the climate crisis to disruptive technologies — and we do so at a time of chaotic transition.
(UN Secretary-General António Guterres, speech to UN General Assembly, 19 September 2023)
Reform or rupture - this was the challenge laid down by Secretary-General Guterres. But will the world be able to respond? The answer to that question lies in three tales of three meetings, three summits and three diplomatic virtuosos.
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