The U.N.’s General Assembly High-level Week kicks off tomorrow, and New York City traffic is already gridlocked as black SUVs streak across Manhattan.
I went over to the global body’s headquarters on Friday to do some reporting ahead of the big event, returning to NRHQ after a quick look at a $3 million tent set up for a big sustainable-development conference that took place this weekend (yes, you read that number right), a quick story about a press conference where I asked a U.N. official about Taiwan’s exclusion from the U.N., and a scoop about a Chinese intimidation campaign that was supposed to derail an event about Uyghurs but will likely increase turnout instead.
U.N. General Assembly Week typically comes with an undue emphasis on the development and climate-related priorities of people who work in those industries, buoyed by frivolous spectacles (like this drone light show about the U.N.’s Sustainable Development goals) and demonstrations organized by professional climate activists. Expect a lot of that this week, in addition to cloying appeals delivered by celebrities.
These sorts of displays overshadow the issues that are driving events in real time and dominating talking points for the bilateral meetings that journalists can’t get into.
What I’m tracking is how countries will navigate the ongoing war in Ukraine, and whether, or to what degree, the intensifying competition between Washington and Beijing is going to play out at Turtle Bay. One relevant detail: Biden will be there, but Xi and Putin are skipping the big event and sending lower-level envoys this week. Washington is already signaling a renewed focus on leveraging development issues to compete with Russian and Chinese appeals to low-income countries, so the absence of the two dictators could present an opportunity. Another thing thing to watch: Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has just landed in New York, putting a fine point on the recent one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s murder and the Biden administration’s diplomatic overtures to the regime.
I’ll have some more coverage this week, so stay tuned.