John J. Metzler
Presidents, prime kinisters, kings and potentates are converging in New York for the 79th annual General Assembly of the United Nations. As the 193 member states meet amid the pomp, splendor and promise of a renewed challenge to settle conflicts and solve humanitarian crises, which have stubbornly eluded diplomats over this past year of widening strife, there remain deep political divisions along historic, East/West and emerging North/South geopolitical fault-lines.
Speaking somberly at the ceremonial ringing of the Peace Bell at the start of the session, Secretary- General Antonio Guterres stated, “We come together today to sound the call for peace. Yet peace is under threat. War is on the march. From the Middle East, to Sudan, Ukraine and beyond, we see bullets and bombs maim and kill.” He intoned, “The foundations of a peaceful world are fracturing. Geo-political divisions are widening.”
Indeed for a decade and especially during the past few years, the U.N. system seems in a political funk, a period overwhelmed by a myriad of exponentially expanding conflicts, humanitarian crises and often unpredictable events. But we are reminded again and again, that while there is a diplomatic deadlock in the decision making........