Leaders back UN call to address challenges together
UNITED NATIONS—From France to South Korea, South Africa to Suriname, leaders gave strong support Tuesday to the UN chief’s call to work together to address global challenges—war, poverty and climate chaos. But US President Donald Trump had other ideas and touted his “America First” agenda.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened the annual meeting of presidents, prime ministers and monarchs at the General Assembly with a plea to choose peace over war, law over lawlessness, and a future where nations come together rather than scramble for self-interests.
‘More divisions’
France’s President Emmanuel Macron warned that 80 years after the United Nations was founded on the ashes of World War II, “we’re isolating ourselves.”
“There’s more and more divisions, and that’s plagued the global order,” he said. “The world is breaking down, and that’s halting our collective capacity to resolve the major conflicts of our time and stopping us from addressing global challenges.”
But Macron said a complex world isn’t reason “to throw in the towel” on supporting the United Nation’s key principles of peace, justice, human rights and nations working together.
Call for collaboration
Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons called multilateralism “one of humanity’s most important achievements, which needs our protection at this time of change.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said “our collective membership of the United Nations is our shared humanity in action,” and the UN at 80 compels members to build “an organization that is able to address our common challenges.”
As South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung put it, “The more difficult the times are, the more we must return to the basic spirit of the UN.” Guterres in his remarks noted the world is becoming increasingly multipolar—certainly a nod to rising economic powers China and India but a slap to the US insistence on superpower status.
But Trump, making the first address to the General Assembly since he was elected to a second term last November, ceded no ground and gave an “America First” speech.
The United States has the strongest borders, military, friendships “and the strongest spirit of any nation on the face of the earth,” he boasted. “This is indeed the golden age of America.”
