Name? António Guterres
Westphalian identity? Portuguese
Age? 77
Why is he in the news? On 22 September, António Guterres opened the general debate of the 81st UN General Assembly, his last as Secretary-General, by highlighting that “the first great power test in the 21st century is peace and security”. As he mentioned the conflicts in the Middle East, he urged attending leaders to use the high-level week for dialogue and de-escalation.
Why do we care? António Guterres has during his decade as Secretary-General advocated for diplomatic conflict resolution and dialogue. This captures both the extent of his work and the structural limitations of the UN. The United Nations is an organisation built to avoid great power conflicts. Instead, Guterres’ time was shaped by great powers making that goal impossible by stepping away from multilateralism.
Why should you care? The hostilities in the Middle East that Guterres points out have had global consequences through the following energy price shock. Households and individuals all over the world see this through increased utility bills and gas prices, so even though you might not live close to the Strait of Hormuz, your daily activities are both fuelled and dependent on peace there.
Who else cares? Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticised Secretary-General Guterres by expressing his concern about the organisation’s inability to coordinate the interests of all member countries, highlighting the West being favoured. Lavrov also handed Guterres a Russian authored report titled “Heirs of Goebbels: Falsification of the Events in Bucha and Bloody Staged Performances of the Kiev Regime”.
Any further comments? The race for Guterres’ successor is already under way. Currently, Rebeca Grynspan from Costa Rica and other Latin American nominees are the frontrunners in straw polls, which are the Security Council’s informal preliminary votes for who to recommend to the General Assembly as the next Secretary-General. Whoever succeeds Guterres will face even worse geopolitical circumstances and be tasked with strengthening the UN’s crumbling reputation.