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Opinion
Why China’s global initiatives represent the reform the UN needs
If the institution cannot reconcile the Global North’s hypocrisy with the legitimate demands of the Global South, its relevance will wither
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Adriel Kasonta is a London-based political risk consultant and lawyer, and a graduate of London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
When the General Debate of the UN General Assembly’s 80th session opened on September 23, the cavernous hall in New York was once again filled with the familiar spectacle: heads of state taking the rostrum, diplomats scribbling notes and the global press parsing every phrase.
But this year’s theme – “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights” – rang painfully hollow. As delegates extolled cooperation, the world outside the glass walls at Turtle Bay seemed consumed by war, inequity and mistrust, not least with the devastation in Gaza.
UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock, who presides over this historic 80th session, was candid enough to warn that the UN is at a “make-it-or-break-it moment”. Her speech framed this year’s session in terms of survival, rather than celebration.
Yet Baerbock, who previously served as Germany’s foreign minister, embodies the contradictions at play. Germany has been one of Israel’s principal suppliers, accounting for roughly a third of Tel Aviv’s imports between 2020 and 2024, according to SIPRI.
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