2023-09-16 18:02:36
The United Nations General Assembly will bring together some of the world’s top leaders next week. Emerging countries should be the subject of all attention.
World leaders will gather in New York next week for the United Nations General Assembly, in a context of heightened geopolitical tensions which push the great world powers to try to attract the favors of emerging nations.
The Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky will attend the meeting in personwhile the war in Ukraine is expected to dominate discussions again this year.
Particular attention should also be paid to emerging countries, as Western countries try to gain support in order to isolate Russia. Many high-level meetings will focus on the priorities of developing countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
“This year, emerging countries dictated the agenda“, declared Richard Gowan, UN director of the International Crisis Group think tank. “Non-Western countries were able to use this moment advantageously,” he said. “I think they took advantage of the fact that the United States on one side and Russia on the other are seeking to secure their support.”
Billions for infrastructure
However, the war in Ukraine is not the only reason for interest in emerging countries.
Over the past ten years, China has granted hundreds of billions of dollars in loans dedicated to building the infrastructure necessary for “New Silk Roads”the vast network of economic partnerships established by Beijing throughout the world.
The United States and its allies have recently tried to ward off China’s growing influence by promising development and climate aid. The American Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that the United Nations General Assembly represented a chance for small countries to “present their priorities” and that she did not consider the meeting as “a competition between great powers.
His Chinese counterpart, Zhang Jun, told Archyde.com that Beijing had “no intention of competing with anyone” and that China “(wishes) to do more for developing countries.”
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, told Archyde.com that Moscow was not “trying to bewitch anyone”. “We will never condition our friendship (by asking anyone) to fall in line and do what we want, unlike some of our colleagues,” he said.
Zelensky at the Security Council
The United Nations is failing to “show young Africans that their impatience on the employment front can be resolved by democracy and not by soldiers.”
Volodimir Zelensky will speak at the General Assembly on Tuesday and will speak the next day before the UN Security Council, where Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sits.
Western diplomats also wish to show that the war in Ukraine does not prevent them from focusing on other crises. A senior European diplomat, however, warned that geopolitical tensions could push more emerging countries to join the BRICS club (Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa).
The group last month invited six countries – Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – to join it.
According to an African diplomat, the United Nations is failing to “show young Africans that their impatience on the employment front can be resolved by democracy and not by soldiers.” “If no one is on their side, then the BRICS – and what they offer – will be attractive“, he estimated.
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