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UNITED NATIONS \u2013 World leaders gather in New York this week for the UN General Assembly, bracing for President Donald Trump\u2019s return to the rostrum for a second year running, with talks centering on the widening conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine \u200band the risks of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
Nearly 130 heads of state meet with the post-World War Two order under strain and with the UN itself struggling to remain relevant and weathering \u200cattacks from Trump, who has slashed America\u2019s contributions and withdrawn from dozens of UN bodies.<\/p>\n
Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who last addressed the diplomatic jamboree via video in 2021, will skip New York in favor of one-on-one talks with Trump in Washington on Thursday, fueling debate about the UN\u2019s relevance in addressing global crises.<\/p>\n
Compounding the crisis of morale and finance are questions about the next leader of the 80-year-old organization: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres completes his term at the end of 2026, with no clear frontrunner in the race \u200bto replace him.<\/p>\n
The 15-member UN Security Council may hold high-level meetings on Ukraine, AI and the Middle East, including talks with Arab leaders, diplomats said.<\/p>\n
More than a year into Trump\u2019s second term, \u201cwe would \u200bno longer say that the UN is in freefall, but we would say that it\u2019s stuck in an open-ended crisis,\u201d said Richard Gowan of the International Crisis \u2060Group.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UN may not be in emergency care like it was last year, but it seems to be trapped in a trauma center for the foreseeable future,\u201d Gowan said.<\/p>\n
The US avoided losing its vote at the assembly \u200bby paying $725 million in contributions to the regular budget this week, but it still owes the organization more than a billion dollars and makes ongoing demands for cuts and reforms.<\/p>\n
GROWING AI RISKS<\/strong><\/p>\n The assembly meets shortly after several \u200bartificial intelligence industry leaders called for a coordinated slowdown of the development of the technology, warning that it could soon improve on its own and escape human control.<\/p>\n Guterres has said that AI will be a major topic, adding that countries pushing its frontiers should set up \u201ccommon guardrails in order to avoid this race to the bottom that could lead one day to a gigantic disaster at the global level.\u201d<\/p>\n The secretary-general has long proposed global governance of AI. In 2023, the UN created an advisory body on the \u200btechnology, with members including tech executives, government officials and academics.<\/p>\n The warning has put Guterres at odds with Trump, who dismissed AI risks as a \u201choax,\u201d saying there is a \u201csick conspiracy\u201d against it and that China would benefit \u200bfrom the doubt being cast on its development.<\/p>\n MIDDLE EAST ESCALATION<\/strong><\/p>\n The Middle East will again be a focus of discussions, as the US-Israeli war on Iran continues to drive global inflation and destabilize the region. Recent gains by Houthi militants threaten shipping in \u200cthe vital \u2060Bab el-Mandeb Strait and could further spike energy prices.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to have a military solution for that problem, and the experience of fighting in Yemen demonstrated how complicated it is to have successful interventions,\u201d said Guterres, adding that the UN\u2019s envoy on Yemen was making a \u201chuge effort\u201d to advance talks.<\/p>\n Peace talks remain stalled, however, as Iran and the US continue to exchange strikes and Trump threatens a major escalation of the war.<\/p>\n Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to address the assembly on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu \u2013 wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza that Israel denies \u2013 is to speak on Thursday.<\/p>\n Palestinian President \u200bMahmoud Abbas will for the second year running not \u200bbe at the gathering in person. The US, \u2060a close Israeli ally, again denied him a visa. On Thursday, the General Assembly voted to allow Abbas to appear via video.<\/p>\n There is likely to be a high-level meeting on the conflict in Sudan on the sidelines, diplomats said, although a diplomatic breakthrough is unlikely.<\/p>\n UKRAINE, FOOD SECURITY<\/strong><\/p>\n Also on the agenda is Russia\u2019s more than four-year-old war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n Ukrainian \u200bPresident Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will address the General Assembly. Zelenskiy will likely seek to shore up Ukraine\u2019s position ahead of what \u200bis expected to be another \u2060tough winter, diplomats said.<\/p>\n The Security Council has been unable to take action to end the conflict because permanent member Russia holds a veto.<\/p>\n Trump has at times appeared frustrated that he has been unable to broker an end to the war, a goal he declared a priority when he began his second term in January last year. The US president spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin earlier this month, but it was unclear whether he plans to meet Zelenskiy \u2060in New York.<\/p>\n Guterres \u200bhighlighted the impact the war was having on civilians but also on food security and energy prices.<\/p>\n \u201cThe effective blockade existing in the \u200bBlack Sea is creating enormous problems that add to the problems generated by the Middle East crisis, and I think it would be very important to find a way to allow Ukrainian exports and Russian exports of food, fertilizers and energy to take place in \u200ba safe way through the Black Sea,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n