Insight and opinion from The National’s editorial leadership
September 10, 2024
The UN General Assembly Hall’s rostrum often doubles as a stage for theatrics. At the opening of UNGA’s 67th session, in 2012, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood in front of fellow world leaders with a doodle of a bomb, meant to illustrate Iran’s nuclear programme. A few years earlier, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi delivered a one-hour-40-minute diatribe on matters ranging from the Iraq war to swine flu to the assassination of John F Kennedy.
UNGA presidents, who serve a one-year term, have the task of getting past these histrionics to focus efforts on larger, more consequential issues – like war, poverty and climate change. It’s a tough job. Two gavels have been broken by presidents trying to keep order – the most recent incident was last year.
On Tuesday the UNGA convenes for its 79th session, at a time when crises seem to be proliferating along with their consequences. The war in Gaza has dragged on for 11 months, having killed almost 41,000 Palestinians. The war in Sudan is in its second year, the war in Ukraine in its third and the war in Syria is more than a decade old. In none of these examples are peace talks progressing. All told, this year has seen six major armed conflicts, in which at least 10,000 people have been killed since the start of the year, spread across four continents.
Other crises are more pernicious. The developing world, the UN says, currently faces the worst medium-term economic outlook in a generation. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals, one of the UNGA’s signature initiatives, are in bad shape. Only 17 per cent of the SDGs’ 169 targets are on track to be achieved by the end of this decade; more than a third of them have either stalled or regressed.
Only 17 per cent of SDG targets are on track to be achieved
Considering all of this, those convening inNew York this week for the new UNGA session should be under enormous pressure. But unlike its leaner, superpower-heavy counterpart the UN Security Council, the UNGA’s resolutions are not legally binding. And with 193 members, each with an equal vote, the UNGA is not agile.
In an essay for The National over the weekend, outgoing UNGA President Dennis Francis wrote that the multilateral system “has often been found wanting, unable to proactively respond with the speed, decisiveness and unity that the times demand”.
Big-tent forums can make decisions quickly if their participants embrace a sense of urgency. Climate summits provide an example – Cop28 in Dubai convened all UNGA member states and a handful of others, and resulted in the concrete, groundbreaking UAE Consensus covering several highly contentious climate change issues.
But maintaining a unity of values in the longer term is a bigger problem in global governance. Ostensibly universal principles are fading as superpower rivalries grow. At an economic conference in Italy this week, Jordan’s Queen Rania called for a return to the principles enshrined in the UN Charter as she highlighted western double standards over the plight of Palestinians compared with Ukrainians.
In the end, if values are ever to become universal again, the UN General Assembly remains the best venue we have for such a realignment; it is where global consensus and new international norms are forged. In many cases, these norms eventually form the basis for new (and binding) areas of international law. Whatever antics ensue from time to time, that process is not mere theatre.
Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 (PA) Group 1 | US$75,000 (Dirt) | 2,200 metres
8.15pm: Al Shindagha Sprint (TB) Group 3 | $200,000 (D) | 1,200m
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (D) | 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (T) | 2,000m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2 (Benzema 13', Kroos 28') Barcelona 1 (Mingueza 60')
Red card: Casemiro (Real Madrid)
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023 More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The currency conundrum
Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”
Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.
This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.
Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Director: Romany Saad Starring: Mirfat Amin, Boumi Fouad and Tariq Al Ibyari
2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
The biog
Name: Sarah Al Senaani
Age: 35
Martial status: Married with three children - aged 8, 6 and 2
Education: Masters of arts in cultural communication and tourism
Favourite movie: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Favourite hobbies: Art and horseback ridding
Occupation: Communication specialist at a government agency and the owner of Atelier
Favourite cuisine: Definitely Emirati - harees is my favourite dish
UAE
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice-captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
