UN General Assembly draws dictators, presidents as war hits Europe, threatens Asia – but climate remains focus

The 77th UN General Assembly is underway, with world leaders set to attend, with many leaving the UK after attending the Queen’s funeral. Up for debate: climate change, which is expected to be a central focus even as the war in Ukraine continues and China steps up its offensive toward Taiwan.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently drew attention to natural disasters around the world, including Floods in Pakistan Last month in which more than 1000 people were killed. He criticized the international community for its “gross inadequacy” in dealing with the climate crisis and urged all countries, starting with the G20 group of countries, to “promote the reduction of their natural emissions.” [targets]”

His speech made only a brief reference to the “conflict and unrest” that continues to fuel “anger” around the world.

“Give War in Ukraine “Destroying a country and dragging down the world economy,” Guterres said during his opening remarks at a press conference as the GA’s annual gathering continued last week. The attack on Ukraine.

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The United Nations appears to be scrambling to avoid controversy as world leaders arrive next week after the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II – something the assembly may not be able to avoid as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Despite the demands of the plan to attend. To America Reject the visa applications of both officials..

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend, but his presence will be felt as an undercurrent to the Ukrainian assembly builds: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver a pre-taped address to the General Assembly, which begins this week. It will be broadcast at the end. For his permission, the General Assembly was forced to vote to allow him to send his message from his war-torn country.

President Biden also faces a daunting task as he prepares to address the General Assembly and lay out a new grand strategy for the international scene after a difficult year. America failed to stop Putin’s attack And we see that China is getting closer to taking action against Taiwan.

According to a State Department official, the U.S. has three top priorities heading into the week: combating the global food insecurity crisis, advancing global health and health security, and the United Nations Security Council. Reforms in

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Taiwan, however, is unlikely to be a big part of the week: Ash Jain, director of the Democratic Order with the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, said during a panel discussion Thursday that the United Nations is “not really . A place to discuss issues like Taiwan.” Instead, he speculated that leaders could “allude” to the conflict in speeches and hold bilateral meetings “on the sidelines.”

United Nations Does not officially recognize TaiwanAnd it is “not in China’s or our interest” to raise the issue directly, former US ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst said during an Atlantic Council panel.

“Obviously it could have an impact on the legitimacy of the organization,” Herbst said, “basically it was a huge power conflict that could not be resolved by the League of Nations that led to this organization. died.”

“The United Nations has other purposes that are helpful,” he added. “There is no doubt that the United Nations is a necessary institution, not just a panacea.”

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But experts disagree about what purposes the UN still serves in a meaningful, effective way: Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, argues that while some UN agencies remain “very valuable” If they are, they do not conform to other theories. of organization.

“It’s often said that if the United Nations didn’t exist, it would have to be invented,” Mendoza told Fox News Digital. “While some individual UN agencies are highly regarded, others such as the Human Rights Council are disreputable, and the organization as a whole operates on the basis of a minimum common denominator.

“This means that oppressive and authoritarian states can always prevent the free world from defending our values, and it means that the United Nations must stand up for what we believe in. The view will be lost in increasing irrelevance.”

U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former senior adviser to the U.S. Representative to the United Nations, Hugh Duggan, argued that the body remains largely a “convening power”.

“Give [U.S.] The president will typically stay five or six days and move the White House and the State Department into hotels … because he realizes that his calling power brings in actors from around the world,” Duggan told Fox News Digital. “Most of the work that can be done is off the radar, in the corners, on the sidelines of formal meetings.”

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“A lot of communication can be out of the advertising glare because a lot of it can’t be tracked, and so on. [the U.N. is] proving a useful meeting place,” he added. “I think there’s an opportunity for personal interactions that would otherwise be extremely difficult to achieve if there were big tours and big publicity for each conversation.”