UNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (OPINION) - World leaders gather in New York this week for the UN
General Assembly, bracing for President Donald Trump's return to the
rostrum for a second year running, with talks centering on the widening conflicts in the
Middle East and Ukraine and the risks of artificial intelligence.
Nearly 130 heads of state meet with the post-World War Two order
under strain and with the UN itself struggling to remain relevant and
weathering attacks from Trump, who has slashed America's contributions and
withdrawn from dozens of UN bodies.
Chinese
leader Xi Jinping, who last addressed the diplomatic jamboree via video in
2021, will skip New York in favor of one-on-one talks with Trump in Washington
on Thursday, fueling debate about the UN's relevance in addressing global
crises.
Compounding the crisis of morale and finance are questions about
the next leader of the 80-year-old organization: Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres completes his term at the end of 2026, with no clear frontrunner in
the race to replace him.
The 15-member UN Security Council may hold high-level meetings
on Ukraine, AI and the Middle East, including talks with Arab leaders,
diplomats said.
More
than a year into Trump's second term, "we would no longer say that the UN
is in freefall, but we would say that it's stuck in an open-ended crisis,"
said Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group.
"The UN may not be in emergency care like it was last year,
but it seems to be trapped in a trauma center for the foreseeable future,"
Gowan said.
The US avoided losing its vote at the assembly by paying $725
million in contributions to the regular budget this week, but it still owes the
organization more than a billion dollars and makes ongoing demands for cuts and
reforms.
GROWING AI RISKS
The assembly meets shortly after several artificial
intelligence industry leaders called for a coordinated slowdown of the development of the technology, warning that it could soon improve on its own and
escape human control.
The secretary-general has long proposed global governance of AI.
In 2023, the UN created an advisory body on the technology, with members
including tech executives, government officials and academics.
The warning has put Guterres at odds with Trump, who dismissed
AI risks as a "hoax," saying there is a "sick conspiracy"
against it and that China would benefit from the doubt being cast on its
development.
MIDDLE EAST ESCALATION
The Middle East will again be a focus of discussions, as the US-Israeli war on Iran continues to drive global
inflation and destabilize the region. Recent gains by Houthi militants threaten
shipping in the vital Bab
el-Mandeb Strait and could further spike energy prices.
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"It's very difficult to have a military solution for that
problem, and the experience of fighting in Yemen demonstrated how complicated
it is to have successful interventions," said Guterres, adding that the
UN's envoy on Yemen was making a "huge effort" to advance talks.
Peace talks remain stalled, however, as Iran and the US continue
to exchange strikes and Trump threatens a major escalation of the war.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to address the
assembly on Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – wanted by the
International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes and crimes against
humanity in Gaza that Israel denies – is to speak on Thursday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will for the second year
running not be at the gathering in person. The US, a close Israeli ally,
again denied him a visa. On Thursday, the General Assembly voted to allow Abbas
to appear via video.
There is likely to be a high-level meeting on the conflict in Sudan on the sidelines, diplomats said,
although a diplomatic breakthrough is unlikely.
UKRAINE, FOOD SECURITY
Also on the agenda is Russia's more than four-year-old war in
Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov will address the General Assembly. Zelenskiy will likely
seek to shore up Ukraine's position ahead of what is expected to be another tough winter, diplomats
said.
The Security Council has been unable to take action to end the
conflict because permanent member Russia holds a veto.
Trump has at times appeared frustrated that he has been unable
to broker an end to the war, a goal he declared a priority when he began his
second term in January last year. The US president spoke with his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin earlier this month, but it was unclear whether he
plans to meet Zelenskiy in
New York.
Guterres highlighted the impact the war was having on civilians
but also on food security and energy prices.
"The effective blockade existing in the Black Sea is
creating enormous problems that add to the problems generated by the Middle
East crisis, and I think it would be very important to find a way to allow
Ukrainian exports and Russian exports of food, fertilizers and energy to take
place in a safe way through the Black Sea," he said.
Reporting
by Nikhil Kumar Mittal, International Affairs Editor
