In the context of global destabilisation exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the 78th UN General Assembly is rethinking the relevance and effectiveness of the international institution.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 World leaders gather in New York this week for the 78th United Nations General Assembly
00:06 to hold high-level talks on key global issues.
00:10 Now we are rapidly moving towards a multipolar world.
00:14 Russia's war in Ukraine and its far-reaching consequences are high on the agenda once again.
00:19 But as geopolitical tensions mount and answers to the climate emergency remain elusive, experts
00:24 say faith in the power of the UN is waning.
00:29 Where we see a lot of people lose faith are when they see those moments of hypocrisy or
00:34 a lack of understanding of the way that the UN is able to continue to operate on one track
00:41 while kind of the global community seems to be heading towards a crash on the other.
00:47 While the UN is committed to maintaining its neutrality in the face of differences between
00:51 member states, some analysts say that shouldn't rule out urgent institutional reform.
00:58 The United Nations probably should be more cooperative to regional partners in order
01:04 to be successful.
01:06 How the UN can make this visible, that's obviously a question.
01:11 But the UN is an old organization.
01:15 It's going through large changes.
01:16 The world is going through large changes.
01:18 So that's evident that organizations, international organizations, should change as well.
01:26 And their priorities might not change.
01:31 Kim Jong-un's recent visit to Russia stoked Western fears about possible North Korean
01:36 military support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and with it, skepticism of what the
01:41 UN could do to stop it.
01:43 The United Nations will use a lot of rhetoric, but effectively it won't be able to carry
01:52 out any kind of instrument to stop this agreement between Russia and Korea.
02:00 So, is it effective?
02:02 It's not effective.
02:03 It's true that it has been reformed.
02:05 Well, there is a reform process that the UN has been trying for many years.
02:11 It also knows its weaknesses in that sense, but obviously it is unable to reform itself
02:17 since these members with veto rights constantly prevent it.
02:22 (whooshing)