As the world convulses in war and contentiousness, its leaders convene at the UN to figure it out

World leaders statesman convening Monday astatine 1 of the astir volatile moments successful the United Nations’ 80-year history, and the challenges they look are arsenic dire arsenic ever if not much so: unyielding wars successful Gaza and Ukraine, escalating changes successful the US attack to the world, bare radical everyplace and technologies that are advancing faster than the understanding of however to negociate them.

The United Nations, which emerged from World War II’s rubble connected the premise that nations would work together to tackle political, κοινωνικά and fiscal issues, is successful situation itself. As Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said past week: “International practice is straining under pressures unseen successful our lifetimes.”

Yet the yearly high-level gathering astatine the UN General Assembly will bring presidents, premier ministers and monarchs from astir 150 of the 193 UN subordinate nations to UN headquarters. The secretary-general says it is an accidental that can’t beryllium missed – adjacent successful the astir challenging of moments.

“We are gathering successful turbulent – adjacent uncharted – waters,” Guterres said. He pointed to, among different specters, “our satellite overheating, caller technologies racing up without guardrails, inequalities widening by the hour.”

At the opening commemoration of this year’s 80th day of the United Nations, General Assembly President Annaleena Baerbock said the world is astatine a crossroads arsenic it was aft World War II, she said, and courageousness is needed “to amusement the world that we tin beryllium amended together.”

“Today,” she said, “is not astir celebrating.”

They stitchery for a amended world, but tin they physique it?

Guterres said helium will use the much than 150 one-on-one meetings helium has with leaders and ministers to impulse that they speak to each other, span divides, trim risks and find solutions – to conflicts, to support the satellite from accrued warming, to enactment guardrails connected fast-expanding artificial intelligence, and to find backing for lagging UN goals for 2030 including ending poorness successful each countries and ensuring prime acquisition for each child.

He said leaders indispensable marque progress, not simply prosecute successful “posturing and promises.”

But UN watchers accidental that successful a profoundly polarized world, with nary prospects of ceasefires successful Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, whether the high-level gathering makes immoderate advancement remains a large question mark.

Richard Gowan, UN manager for the International Crisis Group, said helium is assured three topics will predominate high-level week – US President Donald Trump’s archetypal quality successful his 2nd term, the horrific situation successful Gaza, and what’s adjacent for the United Nations arsenic it grapples with large backing and staff cuts, chiefly owed to the cutoff successful US payments to its regular and peacekeeping budgets.

Gowan said helium expects the astir two-year war successful Gaza to beryllium the cardinal issue, arsenic Israel launches a large violative successful Gaza City forcing thousands to fly and pursuing a study by autarkic experts commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council that accused Israel of committing genocide successful Gaza. Israel rejected the allegation, calling the study “distorted and false.”

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, has stressed that “Palestine is going to beryllium the immense elephant successful this league of the General Assembly.”

It will beryllium beforehand and halfway connected Monday astatine a high-level gathering co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia connected implementing a two-state λύση to the astir eight-decade Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And the spotlight will beryllium adjacent brighter due to the fact that the Trump medication refused to springiness a US visa to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to speak astatine that gathering and the General Assembly.

On Friday, the General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a solution enabling Abbas to speak by video – arsenic it did successful '22 for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pursuing Russia’s invasion. This year Zelenskyy will beryllium attending successful person, and the Security Council is expected to conscionable connected Ukraine connected Tuesday.

The assembly voted overwhelmingly earlier this period to support a two-state λύση and impulse Israel to perpetrate to a Palestinian state. Hours earlier that vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “there will beryllium nary Palestinian state.”

More than 145 countries already admit Palestine arsenic a state, and Mansour told The Associated Press connected Sunday that “it’s going to beryllium 10 more” announcing their designation astatine Monday afternoon’s meeting. High-level week is besides expected to spot a Security Council gathering connected Gaza, perchance Tuesday afternoon.

Lots of thorny issues are connected the docket

The high-level gathering starts Tuesday greeting successful the vast General Assembly chamber. Trump will speak that time soon aft Guterres’ opening “state of the world” speech.

Gowan said there is “hope” that Trump will travel successful a affirmative mood, touting the planetary accomplishments that the president says merit the Nobel Peace Prize. Also connected the docket: Trump’s fiscal attack to the larger world. “Obviously, astir leaders are going to beryllium focusing connected what helium has to accidental astir tariffs,” Gowan said, but besides astir Russia and China.

Other speakers to watch are interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, making his debut connected the planetary stage pursuing the ouster of erstwhile strongman Bashar Assad successful December, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The Iranian person will beryllium successful New York days aft the Security Council decided not to permanently assistance UN sanctions connected his state implicit its escalating atomic program, but it gave Tehran and cardinal European powers France, Germany and the United Kingdom until midnight September 27 to hold to a delay. That’s when the sanctions will automatically “snapback” unless a woody is reached.

High-level week will besides spot galore meetings connected tackling clime change; connected the much than two-year war successful Sudan started by rival subject and paramilitary generals that has sparked the world’s worst displacement crisis; connected Somalia, which is location to the extremist radical Al-Shabab; and connected Haiti, where gangs power implicit 90% of the superior and person expanded into the countryside .

Immediately aft Monday’s 80th-anniversary commemoration, the assembly marked the 30th day of the Beijing women’s conference, which adopted a level to execute sex equality. The United Nations says that extremity is increasing much distant and Guterres has said it is 300 years distant connected the existent track.

Sima Bahous, enforcement manager of UN Women, warned that connected the existent path, 351 cardinal women and girls will unrecorded successful utmost poorness successful 2030 – and “676 cardinal women and girls unrecorded within scope of deadly conflict.” That’s the highest since the 1990s.

One of Guterres’ large aims this year: to make support for his plans to betterment the United Nations and marque it much responsive to the world arsenic it is successful 2025. Because of backing cuts by the US and others, the UN announced past week that its regular operating fund for 2026 needs to beryllium chopped by 15% to $3,2 cardinal on with a 19% chopped successful that budget’s staff positions. – 2,681 posts.

Gowan said helium doesn’t spot the United States oregon different countries moving distant from the United Nations. But helium stressed that it is going done “an extraordinarily hard period” and will person to shrink and change.

“The UN’s resonance connected bid and information issues is unquestionably not what it was,” helium said, “but I think that the enactment will proceed to muddle through.” [AP]