The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is the annual meeting that attracts more world leaders, journalists, and scientists trying to understand how time seems to have stood still for decades in the corridors of the organization's headquarters. Technology evolves, governments come and go, economic crises hit and fade, but there are wars, massacres, hatred, and debates that remain unchanged in the face of the UN's impotence. Among all of them, the Middle East issue - the one between Israel and Palestine - is undoubtedly the main one. It began for the organization on November 29, 1947, with the famous Resolution 181, the Partition, and continues today with permanent diplomatic battles to achieve the two-state solution, the end of the Gaza occupation, and the release of the hostages from October 7, 2023.
This Monday marks the start of the 80th session of the General Assembly in New York, a week that fills the city with huge delegations, thousands of events, meetings, and parties. And once again, it is marked by what is happening in the occupied territories and by the decision of a good number of countries - including France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Malta, Portugal, and even Luxembourg - to officially recognize the Palestinian State, to pressure the Governments of Benjamin Netanyahu (and Donald Trump) to end the massacre in the Gaza Strip, which has already claimed tens of thousands of lives.
A few days ago, the UN approved a resolution with 142 votes in favor and only 10 against condemning the Hamas attack on October 7, urging the group to release the hostages and even describing the necessary steps for the organization to relinquish power. "In the context of the end of the war, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international commitment and support, in line with the goal of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state," the text states. But it also includes a reference to the "right of return," a historical claim since 1948, which Washington and Tel Aviv reject because they believe it would mean the end of the Jewish state. "This is another unfortunate and untimely publicity stunt that undermines serious diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Make no mistake: this resolution is a gift to Hamas (...) Far from promoting peace, the conference has already prolonged the war, emboldened Hamas, and harmed short- and long-term peace prospects. The United States will not participate in this insult to the victims of October 7, but we will continue to lead concrete efforts to end the fighting and achieve lasting peace," declared the US delegation.
The agenda for the week will mainly focus on the Palestinian issue and the event convened today by France and Saudi Arabia to promote the two-state solution. Macron will be the host, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, who has most strongly criticized Israel, even approving a series of punitive measures, will be present. But not the German Chancellor, the British Prime Minister, or even Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Neither Trump, despite expecting to meet with dozens of leaders. Palestinian diplomats and leaders will also not be present, as the United States, in violation of UN agreements - which require neutrality of the host country - has not granted them the necessary visas.
This past Friday, countries voted and, by an overwhelming majority, with only five votes against, approved the intervention of the head of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen, in the conference on the two-state solution via video conference. But Washington, almost simultaneously, vetoed a draft text in the Security Council on ending the famine in Gaza, arguing that it did not condemn Hamas.
The Middle East is by no means the only topic on the UNGA agenda, but it is the main one: overshadowing everything else, conditioning conversations, and souring the atmosphere. Last year, the UN celebrated its 79th anniversary amidst enormous pessimism and frustration. The situation in Ukraine, Gaza, and Lebanon represented, and now even more so, a critical moment for global security. If we add to that the recent US bombing of Iran, Israeli attacks throughout the region, the unstable situation in Syria, terrorist groups, China's growing assertiveness, the destruction of Venezuelan boats by the US military, or Russia's constant provocations to European neighbors, with armed drones flying over Poland and fighter jets violating Baltic airspace just this Friday, the cocktail is explosive. Not to mention the situation in Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti, etc.
For decades, the world saw the UN as a slow, imperfect organization, full of holes and problems, but essential. "If the United Nations ever admits that international disputes can be settled by using force, then we will have destroyed our best hope of establishing a world order," once said US President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Now even that premise is in question. In June, Secretary-General António Guterres, taking stock, said: "80 years ago, from the ashes of war, the world planted a seed of hope. A Charter, a vision, a promise: that peace is possible when humanity unites." But Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 elections has shaken the international order, questioning the basic principles of a system based on rules, cooperation, supranational institutions, and traditional alliances.
Last year's edition had the motto "Leave no one behind: acting hand in hand to promote peace, sustainable development, and human dignity for present and future generations," and in the background, it not only had the usual aspirations but also the hope of launching a deep transformation of the organization, approving a Pact for the Future that would "revitalize the multilateral system and prepare it for today's and tomorrow's challenges. We cannot create a suitable future for our grandchildren with systems built for our grandparents," said Guterres, advocating for a deep reform of an institution that was born with veto rights for the great powers and that could die, from failure, due to the same mechanism.
Everything that was experienced in 2024 persists. Not a single thing has improved, but all the longed-for internal revolution seems secondary now. The world is on fire, and the UN seems as incapable of offering not only solutions but frameworks to address them. The theme of the 80th session is "Better Together: 80 years and more for peace, development, and human rights," a desperate cry for "global commitment to multilateralism, solidarity, and shared action for people and the planet." If past slogans were something like "a little more UN," today's slogans are about saving whatever is left, even if it is much less. Because the United States has made it clear that there is little money, scant commitment, and a completely different agenda.
This year's high-level week highlights the urgency of fulfilling the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing climate change and the most contagious diseases, revitalizing global cooperation, not neglecting youth, promoting the end of nuclear weapons, and activating global governance of artificial intelligence. This will be done through countless panels, roundtables, debates, and sessions. The UN is not just about resolutions, condemnations, peacekeeping missions, but also about providing a platform for rivals and enemies to sit down, discuss, resolve in writing - even if it takes decades - and not using weapons.
"World leaders arriving in New York for the UN General Assembly in September will find a traumatized world organization. The cuts and freezing of US aid have severely affected the organization, forcing it to make drastic reductions in both staff and programming. Humanitarian aid operations have been the most affected, negatively impacting the UN's ability to provide vital assistance to the civilian population in conflict situations. Other members have not covered the financial deficiencies left by Washington," notes a somewhat optimistic report from the International Crisis Group.
The recurring joke in the halls of the New York headquarters these weeks is that, after decades of hearing officials say they had to resign themselves to doing much more with much fewer resources, the mantra now is to limit themselves to doing "less with even less." This not only implies layoffs, salary reductions, staff relocations but also canceling entire programs and even reviewing many of them so that mentions of equality, diversity, and other taboo topics for Donald Trump completely disappear. A total paradigm shift after eight decades of always aiming for more, in cost but also in ambition.
Therefore, the first session this Monday will be dedicated to the 80th anniversary, for heads of state and government to reflect "on the achievements of the last eight decades and the way forward for a more inclusive and responsive multilateral system," according to the schedule.
The UN has to deal, with one hand tied behind its back, with the situation in Palestine, with the hypothetical and recurring possibility of having blue helmets in the Strip. It must decide whether to transform its mission in Haiti into a contingent against the gangs that control 90% of the capital. Review and update sanctions against the Taliban while the United States negotiates the use of a military base with them. It must rethink the mandate and ambition of the mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo/Rwanda, which has faced similar protests to those that led to the forced exit from Mali. Address the situation of the Rohingya in what used to be Burma. Deal with war or insecurity in Syria, Yemen, or Ethiopia. Or the Nuclear Agreement with Iran, which is currently going through one of its most delicate phases. All this knowing that Trump, whose new ambassador was ratified on Friday afternoon, has sent to Congress a "tight budget" for next year that does not allocate resources for operations (historically, Washington has historically covered 25% of the total) and minimizes or suspends most other funds.
In 2010, the UN's peacekeeping budget was $7 billion, while its humanitarian operations spent a combined total of $9 billion. In 2024, the money allocated to the peacekeeping budget was less than $6 billion, while funds for humanitarian work approached $35 billion, a huge figure but far below what is needed to cover all programs.