UN General Assembly in New York
As the mood on the world stage shifts from diplomacy and international cooperation towards aggression and isolation, world leaders are meeting at the UN General Assembly in New York today. Eighty years after its founding, the United Nations seems less influential than ever. What role does the organisation play in today's world?
Giving small states a voice
Politiken notes:
“Right now, the alternative to the UN is the law of the jungle and the age of predators. So the UN is still the best framework we have for global cooperation on the major crises and challenges facing the world. As an example, it's the UN with its annual General Assemblies and COP meetings that gives a global voice to climate victims from sinking small states and poor regions.”
A lost Europe
Europe is floundering in the new world order, writes La Stampa:
“Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, Benjamin Netanyahu. They all feel comfortable with the use of force, weapons or economic blackmail. For some, like Volodymyr Zelensky, this is something they have been forced to get used to. Others, however, are lost in a world in which they cannot find themselves: the Europeans. Europe has lost the compass that guided it for three-quarters of a century for two reasons. Firstly, because it is now forced to navigate the waters of war. ... Secondly, because it is torn between two fronts: the military threat from Russia and the political, economic and cultural threat from Donald Trump.”
Dwindling credibility
The international community must get its act together, former senior UN official Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah demands in La Libre Belgique:
“Preventing the already waning international legitimacy from dwindling even further remains the responsibility of key decision-makers, in particular the permanent members of the Security Council and other major financial contributors. In view of the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, the millions of refugees and displaced persons, the massive migration movements and the ongoing destruction of the environment, a more efficient international community should not only be a wish but an urgent necessity for all - a genuine 'better together'.”