International Crisis Group (Ten Challenges for the UN in 2022-2023) reflects on the geostrategic role of the UN in this difficult historical phase.
In the run-up to the General Assembly, in the midst of the war in Ukraine and in a world gripped by the ‘third world war in pieces’, many are wondering what the future of an organisation that is decisive for the future of humanity and the planet might be.
Beyond the UN’s meritorious work in crisis territories, the geostrategic question, which we pose in complex terms, is: will the UN be decisive in a rethinking of international relations?
This question inevitably intersects with the future of multilateralism and globalisation. We see how the nationalist thrusts are determined and how confidence in a global framework of which the UN should be the ultimate guarantor is progressively diminishing.
We believe that we cannot do without a systemic frame of reference, but we believe that the reform of the UN must go hand in hand with a rethinking of multilateralism (without giving in entirely to bilateralism but looking towards prospects of regionalisation of international relations) and globalisation (working to politically govern the passage of global phenomena into the territories in a glocalisation perspective).
The UN can once again become decisive if, in addition to accepting the proposals of a new multilateralism for glocalisation, it returns to being the ‘home’ of strategic mediation, negotiation, dialogues. The future of the world depends on the choices we make now, and the complexity of the world shows no sign of abating: it is with a complex, deeply political spirit that the UN can make new beginnings.
