Tuesday, 23 September 2014 00:04
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AS the world gathers at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), also attended by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the enormity of challenges facing the world gets a sharper focus. With some 140 heads of state and government scheduled to attend, a record-breaking number, leaders’ week at the United Nations is like no other.
Now in its 69th year, this annual confab is regularly likened to a diplomatic trade fair, although with so many leaders in attendance it can also feel like diplomatic speed-dating. This year’s cast list not only includes diplomatic A-listers, like Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu and David Cameron, but also celebrity A-listers like Leonardo DiCaprio, Emma Watson and Victoria Beckham, the BBC reported.
A headliner from last year’s gathering, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will be making his second appearance. This year also features debutants like President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia, and India’s Narendra Modi, who is not only addressing the UN but also a rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden arena. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will address the assembly, but not Vladimir Putin. The Russian President could have come to New York – after being barred from the recent G7 summit because of Moscow’s annexation of Crimea – but chose not to.
Taking place amid a geopolitical whirlwind, the agenda reflects the gravity and multiplicity of global crises. President Obama, after addressing the assembly on Wednesday, will chair a meeting of the Security Council to address the growing problem of foreign fighters in countries like Iraq and Syria. He will also attempt to rally world leaders to deal with the knotty Islamic State (IS) as well as other complex geopolitical tangles the US has woven itself into.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will convene a meeting on the Ebola crisis in West Africa as the disease creeps farther across the world. He will also chair a crucial climate change conference that aims to push global leaders to ratify a new climate agreement in Paris next year. Early indications are that it will be tough going. China, Russia and even India will be absent from the meeting, taking any real meaning from the process.
The addresses delivered by various global leaders, which domestically important, generate little buzz internationally, with only a few speeches grabbing headlines. Among them will be President Obama’s speech expected to be delivered on Wednesday.
From sideline diplomacy focused on working out a deal on Iran’s nuclear weapons before the November deadline to battling climate change, the UNGA program is getting more and more crowded every year. In such an environment one would assume the UN’s importance would also grow correspondingly, but increasingly the list of criticisms seem to be expanding faster.
Many question the static role of the UN in a complex and fast-changing world. The Security Council arguably remains elitist, with Germany, Japan and India among others denied permanent seats. The efficacy of even the Secretary General’s role has been questioned over the years.
The UN system as a whole has been slammed for being too archaic, cumbersome and administratively incompetent. But what cannot be denied is that the UNGA is the best place for the world to gather to discuss the world’s problems, and in that context its importance remains unrivalled.
