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The UN “general debate” began on Tuesday, marking the annual ritual of heads of state and government giving their take on world events, a tradition going back to the organization’s founding in 1945. The 79th session opened with a pessimistic message from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about the UN’s inability to stop wars, decrying the impunity enjoyed by states that violate international law and citing the Gaza and Ukraine wars in particular. Without naming them, he was clearly pointing the finger at Russia and the US, two permanent members of the UN Security Council that have repeatedly used their veto power to stop the organization from taking decisive action to stop these two wars.
Also as per tradition, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was the first head of state to speak. He too lamented the lack of global action, saying that the UN is paralyzed, with challenges piling up and world leaders “going around in circles,” citing Gaza and Ukraine as prime examples of this paralysis.
Then it was US President Joe Biden’s turn. He gave a different picture, asserting that the international system is working and that the US in particular is holding it together. Many expected Biden’s speech — his last before the UN — to be bold and path-making, but it failed to move the audience, in part because of the contrasts between the spoken words and the real actions of his administration.
Biden cited the famous lines from the Irish poet William Butler Yeats, describing a world where “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” But Biden then added: “Some may say those words describe the world not just in 1919 but in 2024. But I see a critical distinction. In our time, the center has held. Leaders and people from every region and across the political spectrum have stood together.”
Biden was probably the only leader on the first day of speeches who stated that the international system is working
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg
Biden was probably the only leader on the first day of speeches who stated that the international system is working. In other events and high-level gatherings held in New York these days, such as the “Summit of the Future,” participants agree that the UN system is broken and in need of reform, or even an overhaul.
While Biden asserted that “we defended the UN Charter,” others, including Guterres, said it has been broken into too many pieces. The US president thought that the world has “turned the page on the worst pandemic in a century. We made sure COVID no longer controls our lives.” But Lula said: “Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, no comprehensive treaty on pandemics has been adopted by the UN.” This sentiment was echoed by others.
Most of the examples Biden cited to support his contention that the system is working were actions taken by individual states, not by the UN or the global community as a whole. On climate change, for example, he said: “My country made the largest investment in climate and clean energy ever, anywhere in history.” But that is the US, not the UN. And so on with the other examples he cited.
Looked at from the point of view of a veto-wielding superpower, the system is working. It can stop any action it does not like and go along with the decisions of which it approves. What could be better? But the world looks different from the perspective of defenseless refugees in Gaza, huddled by the ruins of their homes, having lost numerous family members and who could get killed at any minute by a far superior military force unchecked by the UN and supported by its most powerful members.
Biden did mention Gaza, five times, and sought to take credit for his administration’s efforts to help. He acknowledged that “innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell. Thousands and thousands killed, including aid workers. Too many families dislocated, crowding into tents, facing a dire humanitarian situation.” But he blamed only Hamas. The president mentioned that the US, with Qatar and Egypt, had put forward a “ceasefire and hostage deal” and that “now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms.” In essence, he abdicated responsibility for ending the carnage. These remarks unintentionally gave credence to a report published by The Wall Street Journal last week stating that the administration was ending its Gaza efforts.
The fact remains that it is the US that has continued to provide Israel with military assistance and the weapons it uses to conduct its war on Gaza. It has also vetoed all serious attempts at the UN Security Council to take action to end the war or censure Israel for its gross violations of international humanitarian law, although it did go along with some mild calls on the “parties” to negotiate an end to the war, to which Israel has chosen not to listen.
The US has vetoed all serious attempts at the UN Security Council to take action to end the war or censure Israel
Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg
On the underlying Palestine question, Biden correctly suggested addressing the “rise of violence against innocent Palestinians on the West Bank.” He also called for setting “the conditions for a better future, including a two-state solution, where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition and normalized relations with all its neighbors, and where Palestinians live in security, dignity and self-determination in a state of their own.” While this is admirable, the US has cut its aid to the Palestinian Authority and to UNRWA, the two entities most responsible for providing basic services to the Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories.
Restoring aid to UNRWA to its previous level is essential to maintaining that thin lifeline to the besieged and harassed Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. Similarly, empowering the PA is necessary to advance the two-state solution.
To restore its credibility, the Biden administration needs to demonstrate its resolve on ending the war in Gaza and easing the suffering of ordinary Palestinians in the West Bank, including Jerusalem. At the very least, it should join the persistent efforts made by Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League and the EU, supported by the overwhelming majority of nations around the globe, to revive the peace process. Without US support, Israel is likely to ignore these efforts and continue on the path of war and destruction.
The failure to stop the Gaza war almost a year after it started is the most glaring example of a failed international system. Guterres is correct that we need to end the rampant “world of impunity — where violations and abuses threaten the very foundation of international law and the UN Charter.” It is in the hands of the US administration to reverse this trend, starting with ending the war in Gaza. If Biden uses the remaining months of his presidency to do that, as many of his predecessors have done before, he will secure a legacy as a peacemaker, restoring some faith in the “international rules-based system.”
- Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the Gulf Cooperation Council assistant secretary-general for political affairs and negotiation. The views expressed here are personal and do not necessarily represent the GCC. X: @abuhamad1