New UN chief must engage new nationalists
The new United Nations’ Secretary-General, António Guterres, took the oath of office last week. Amid the massive rise of nationalist movements, and the loss of confidence over multilateral institutions, including the UN, he will certainly see the road ahead with mounting challenges. As head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the last one decade, he witnessed the worst ever refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War. His experience in overseeing the refugee menace will be an asset for European leaders to finally call for a plausible solution in the continent. Beyond this, he will have to deal with Donald Trump as the new US President (a political novice), a longstanding political crisis in Italy with a new Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni in place, an emerging far-right political movement across Europe, unending war in West Asia, a resurgent China and Russia, and more.
These make his agenda already full for his term. While taking oath, he said: “Our duty to the people we serve is to work together to move from fear of each other, to trust in each other. Trust in the values, that bind us, and trust in the institutions that serve and protect us.” This highlights how he has to forge ahead in restoring the much-needed trust of the people over global institutions, which is fast fading. Indeed, he is right in stressing the building of mutual trust between people, and only this will probably ease the growing fear that has been encircling large parts of the world. It's simple — the time has come for launching a global movement to urge people to respect humanitarian values. As Guterres had the backing of almost all the permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council, in his election, he will have an edge over many other former UN chiefs, in delivering to the international community.
While coming to the real problems, many feel that he needs to first ensure sustained funding from the US, the largest single donor to the UN. Given the way Trump is shaping his policy decisions, by targeting global trade and climate deals, the commitment of the new US leadership will be vital in running the world body. Cleaning up the mess in Syria, that has been on the rise since 2011, too is priority. When he campaigned for the UN job, he listed the Syrian crisis as his top priority. Trump has already outlined his decision to rope in Russia, even if that means retaining Bashar al-Assad, in removing the Islamic State from Syria. If that happens, Guterres, a one-time canny politician, who has cast himself as a champion of human rights, will face the wrath of the people across the global community, for endorsing a leader who is widely accused (at least in Western eyes) of gross violation of human rights. likewise, the new United Nations’ chief will have to tackle many other conundrums, as and when they arise. One does hope he will up to his promise of making the UN, more “nimble and efficient”, accompanied by “management reform”.