Inside Out | Multilateralism won’t work with US focused on competition

That is probably the long-awaited meeting of the US Federal Reserve and the likely decision to cut interest rates – perhaps by as much as 0.5 percentage points. For sure, millions of words, and thousands of pundits, will be used to pontificate on the likely impact of the announcement, both inside and outside the US. For a short time, it will distract attention from the normal mix of Gaza, Ukraine and weather calamities across the world.

My guess is that the second massive event will come and go with almost nothing reported. However, the possible attendance of Kamala Harris may provide enough electoral spice to attract passing media attention. Above all else, it will pass unmarked because most participants will be spitting in the wind.

I’m talking about the United Nations Summit of the Future in New York. The summit is hugely important because it is focused on the collapse of multilateralism and international cooperation, and what needs to be done if we are to muster the collaboration needed to wrestle successfully with the many existential challenges facing communities across the world, but which no individual nation can tackle alone.

The summit grandly aims to generate 21st century problem-solving solutions to 21st century problems – not just financial crises and climate change, but also the management of the oceans, outer space and artificial intelligence.

As UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a message aimed at galvanising participants towards compromise and consensus: “Our institutions cannot keep up because they were designed for another era and another world.”