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Leaders Convene at UN Amid War, AI Woes09/22 06:30
With wars raging,temperatures rising and artificial intelligence
encroaching, leaders from across the planet converge at the United Nations on
Tuesday to address each other and the world, airing their hopes, plans and
grievances as the world body's chief addresses them for the final time.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- With
https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-general-assembly-unga-trump-war-83dfe8
8eaf541fdcef3a4758010bef6ehttps://apnews.com/article/climate-change-ice-sheet-an
tarctica-greenland-melting-4721be25690317bc8f7bd9699b6f41f1 and
https://apnews.com/article/un-ai-safety-companies-global-coordination-guterres-6
ae720a081ce4d5ede35837ca35b8460 encroaching, leaders from across the planet
converge at the United Nations on Tuesday to address each other and the world,
airing their hopes, plans and grievances as the world body's chief addresses
them for the final time.
The annual high-level gathering at the U.N. General Assembly will be
consumed with wars in
https://apnews.com/article/iran-war-costs-us-military-congress-interceptors-7541
f88490d17747537ee3fdbc119af8, https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war,
https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukrainehttps://apnews.com/article/sudan-war-un-rep
ort-foreign-suppliers-cc56f29ff1400a71f065f8cc84898daf,
https://apnews.com/article/congo-protests-tshisekedi-constitution-riot-clashes-7
22684d7da7ffe1d49c44dd03db82904 and
https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-mandalay-tada-airport-drone-0706851923376b64a
df22475509cfc83 and a persisting question: Can the leaders do anything to end
them?
And what can they do about the relentless rise of global warming threatening
the future of the planet, the growing inequalities within and among nations,
and shocks to the global economy as blocked shipping routes and supply chains
increase the cost of living and slow growth?
The future of the United Nations will also definitely be on the agenda. At
81, its powers are still the victorious nations from World War II, not the 21st
century's major global players. The U.N.'s 193 member nations have agreed to a
wide-ranging reform package that includes updating key institutions such as the
powerful U.N. Security Council, where the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and
France hold inordinate sway because of their veto power. Reform, however, is
easier said than implemented.
Behind the scenes, there will be speculation about who will lead the United
Nations next. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' second five-year term ends
Dec. 31 and no clear successor has emerged.
Trump, Netanyahu and Zelenskyy are among the headliners
There is still no question that the U.N. remains the key gathering place for
its 193 member nations and their leaders. Some 130 heads of state and
government are expected to speak at the General Assembly starting Tuesday along
with dozens of ministers.
Among the headliners: U.S. President Donald Trump and French President
Emanuel Macron. Both will speak Tuesday after Guterres' opening "state of the
world" address. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Iran's President
Masoud Pezeshkian speak Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- whom New York Mayor Zoran
Mamdani wanted arrested for his treatment of Palestinians in Gaza until he
learned he has no such authority -- will address the assembly on Thursday. For
a second year, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas won't be coming to the U.N.
because the U.S. has refused to give him a visa. He will nonetheless address
the assembly by video the same day.
The United States, under its agreement with the U.N. to host the
organization, is required to allow diplomats from all member nations to attend
meetings.
Equally telling is who else isn't coming. China's President Xi Jinping is
meeting Trump in Washington on Wednesday, yet he is skipping -- some diplomats
say snubbing -- the U.N. gathering and sending a vice president instead.
Russian President Vladimir Putin isn't coming either, and Indian President
Narendra Modi has backed out.
France's U.N. ambassador, Jerome Bonnafont, said it is "extremely critical"
for world leaders this week to support the U.N. as the place where the world's
nations meet -- especially at a time of such polarization.
"We believe in multilateralism," he said, "and we believe that the
high-level week is the occasion for countries in the world to reaffirm that
they prefer cooperation and dialogue to confrontation."
United Nations has not had a great year
There is no doubt it's been a tough year for the world body. It has been
pushed to the sidelines when it comes to its key responsibility of ensuring
international peace and security and trying to end major conflicts in the
Mideast and Ukraine. The U.S. failure to pay billions of dollars in outstanding
arrears has left the organization's finances in rocky shape.
Former U.N. deputy secretary-general Mark Malloch-Brown, a United Nations
Foundation board member, said, "While the world still trusts the U.N., the
global public is eager for change."
The future of artificial intelligence has pushed to the forefront of global
concerns, with its speeding advances and the dawning recognition that there are
no industry controls, let alone any global guardrails for a technology that has
many advantages but also many disadvantages and unknowns.
Days before the global gathering, leaders of three major
https://apnews.com/article/openai-safety-ai-framework-089e75b95bc935af092da7b79d
92706d getting out of human control and called for a pause, but
https://apnews.com/article/trump-ai-guardrails-data-centers-b85df16775ff7e9611a4
56b061a0e4b9 and urged continued advances to keep the U.S. ahead of China.
The U.N. Security Council added a high-level meeting on AI to its agenda on
Wednesday afternoon, a sign of the growing apprehension and need to address the
issue. It was already slated to hold a high-level meeting on Ukraine with
Zelenskyy on Wednesday morning.
For the U.N. chief, this will be his last assembly meeting with global
leaders. He previewed his speech last week, telling U.N. reporters that power
is shifting in "an era of deep uncertainty."
"At a time when the world faces three existential threats," he said,
"international cooperation is more necessary than ever."
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