UN powerless as war engulfs Middle East

Good morning from New York where the U.N. General Assembly high-level week is nearing the finish line, amid a worsening international crisis as bombs continued to rain down on Beirut overnight. 
THE UN’S RELEVANCE PROBLEM: If ever there was a split-screen moment to illustrate the powerlessness of the U.N. in fulfilling its mandate of maintaining peace and security it was Friday’s choreography. 
A defiant Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech saying that Israel yearns for peace but had “no choice” but to continue striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Shortly after he left the stage, explosions rocked the Lebanese capital as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bombed southern Beirut, flattening multiple buildings in an effort to take out Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. 
Diplomacy falters: Coming at the end of a week where world leaders paid homage to the idea of multilateralism, Israel’s dismissal of the 21-day cease-fire proposal brokered by the U.S., France and others earlier in the week made a mockery of diplomacy. Washington and other European allies were quietly furious at Netanyahu’s rejection of the cease-fire proposition Thursday, indicating they had been assured of Israeli buy-in on the plan. 
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Meanwhile, the escalation in the Middle East in recent weeks has revealed how helpless the U.N. is in shaping the outcome of events in the region, almost a year since the Hamas attack on Israel.
Latest developments: Both Netanyahu and Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati left New York Friday. U.S. President Joe Biden was being briefed by his National Security Council about the rapidly developing events.
Programming note: Today is Global Playbook’s final edition from the 79th session of the U.N. General Assembly, but there’s still plenty happening. Some big names are delivering their national speeches today, not least Russia’s Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. 
New York Climate Week also continues through Sunday — a perfect reason for the climate crowd to stay in the Big Apple through the weekend.
BUSY NEWS DAY: New York  found itself at the center of a nexus of head-spinning news stories on Friday — at one point, Donald Trump was meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower, New York City Mayor Eric Adams arrived in court to plead not guilty to corruption charges, and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu was delivering a high-stakes speech at the General Assembly. Without doubt, the city that never sleeps.
FIRST A SCOOP: The Biden administration has decided against seeking a second three-year term on the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, POLITICO’s Phelim Kine writes in to say. The  U.S. has opted not to run in next month’s uncontested ballot to keep its seat on the 47-member body. Not only that — the U.S. won’t return to the council until at least 2028, a person familiar with the decision said. The State Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A Biden reversal: The move comes three years after President Biden reversed a decision by the Trump administration in 2018 to leave the council. Then-U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley justified that decision by calling the council “a cesspool of political bias.” 
Shocker: The U.S. decision has dismayed some  U.S. human rights activists. “I’m kind of shocked … having the U.S. at the table and engaged proactively to push for human rights is really important,” said Sarah Yager, Washington director at the nonprofit advocacy group Human Rights Watch.
Trump-proofing? The decision to step back from the council until at least 2028 sparked speculation that the Biden administration is hedging its bets toward a possible second Trump term. “If Trump gets elected and the U.S. is on the council … would he leave in another temper tantrum? Whom would  he partner with to carry out his agenda?” said Madeleine Sinclair, of the International Service for Human Rights. “If we speculate that the U.S. didn’t run [for a second council term] because of that, then that was probably a safe move — but we don’t know.”
SPEAKING OF DONALD TRUMP: The U.S. presidential candidate hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower on Friday, the first meeting between the two since 2019. After slamming Europe for not doing enough for Ukraine the previous evening, the former American president shed little light on his views on continuing U.S. funding and military help for Ukraine. 
Bothsidesism: But Trump did speak repeatedly about his conviction that he can negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine “that’s good for both sides,” boasting that he had “a very  good relationship with President Putin.” When the Ukrainian president interjected to say that Trump has a better relationship with Ukraine than Russia, he replied “it takes two to tango.”
RUNNING THE SHOW: Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is well-known to the U.N. community for his ground-breaking work on micro-finance, but he is at UNGA this week in a new capacity — the de-facto interim leader of Bangladesh since long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country.
Yunus went big on the climate challenges facing Bangladesh in his address to the General Assembly Friday. He also had met political heavy hitters like Biden, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and European Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen during the week — a significant show of engagement. Crucially, Yunus has still not announced a date for elections following the toppling of the Hasina government last month.
BEIJING DOES VICTORY LAP: China’s Wang Yi will deliver Beijing’s national statement to the assembly today. Earlier in the week, China touted what it claimed was a ringing endorsement of its human rights record by dozens of U.N. countries, Phelim Kine writes in to report.  U.N. representatives of countries including Cuba and Venezuela supported China’s “just position” on its policies in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong via joint statements, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. 
Not so fast: Chinese rights activists called foul. In fact, it showed “Beijing’s efforts to gaslight the international community and undermine human rights norms through established procedures at the U.N.,” said Yaqiu Wang, research director for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at the advocacy group Freedom House, Phelim says. 
BRICS GENDER PROBLEM: It’s emerging as an increasingly powerful association in global politics, but the BRICS group of countries, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is striking for another reason — it’s an all-male affair. The lack of female representation was hard to miss at Thursday’s meeting of foreign ministers.
TRUDEAU’S TRAVAILS: French President Emmanuel Macron headed north to Canada this week after his U.N. visit for a two-day trip where he was hosted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Though both are known well internationally, they’re facing domestic political pressure, with Trudeau fighting a general election next year. POLITICO’s Anne McElvoy spoke to the Number 2 in Trudeau’s government, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, in this week’s Power Play podcast.
REFLECTING ON THE FUTURE:  The high-level week of this year’s U.N. General Assembly started with a big bang as world leaders agreed on a Pact for the Future last Sunday, the culmination of what the U.N. dubbed a “global conversation,” which brought forward recommendations on everything from Security Council reform to a revision of the world’s financial architecture. But is it just another talking-shop communique? 
Taking stock: U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Policy Guy Ryder said that “the very fact that the pact was agreed in the midst of such divisions and tensions geopolitically is important,” despite Russia’s last-minute effort to table amendments right at the end. 
Managing expectations: “Nobody comes out of these negotiations 100 percent satisfied with what they have. That’s the nature of these sorts of negotiations,” he said. “But there was enough people in the room with a small number of exceptions, who said, there is something here on the table that we don’t want to let go of.” Ryder knows a thing or two about negotiations — he was a top union and ILO official for years. 
Buy-in from the non-Western world: In particular Ryder highlighted the buy-in from the G77 group of developing countries, noting that African countries were dubious at the outset. “They were worried that it would be a distraction from the 2030 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. But ultimately, Africa was among the first to say “let’s get this done.”
Next steps: The 56 “actions” contained in the Pact for the Future will feed into a range of international summits already on the agenda, from the IMF-World Bank annual meetings to next year’s  Financing for Development conference in Spain. A gaping hole, however, is peace and security, given the lack of concrete commitments. It means that plans to reboot the U.N.’s peace-building missions may remain a pipe-dream.
— Brazilian Prime Minister Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva railing against billionaires as he sat a few feet from Bill Gates at the Goalkeepers event in Jazz at Lincoln Center on Monday.
— Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley quoting the New Testament in her speech to the U.N. General Assembly, just after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his address.
— Actress Meryl Streep sounding the alarm bell about the increasing repression of women by Afghanistan at an event hosted by Qatar, Indonesia, Ireland and Switzerland on Monday. “A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not, and a woman may not in public,” the Academy Award winner said. “This is extraordinary.”
— In one of the most unique venues this week, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, were among the top names at an event at Central Park Zoo on Tuesday hosted by the High Ambition Coalition, urging action on biodiversity. 
— European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen running in Central Park sporting a ‘I LOVE EU” t-shirt. The beefy security detail were able to keep pace with her; as for her own officials from Brussels? Not so sure. 
— High-level general debate of the United Nations General Assembly continues, 9 a.m. Prime Minister of Grenada Dickon Mitchell, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud; Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov; Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of UAE; India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar; China’s Wang Yi; Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan; Cuba’s Bruno Eduardo Rodríguez Parrilla; Enrique Austria Manalo, secretary of foreign affairs, Philippines.
— Working together to tackle racism and the climate crisis; part of New York Climate Week; Hosted by Sustaining All Life/United to End Racism; 10:30 a.m.; East 41st Street.
Thanks to Nahal Toosi, Mona Zhang, Eric Bazail-Eimil, Phelim Kine and editor Jones Hayden.
For your diary: Global Playbook is heading to the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington next month. Get in touch with any tips or events at [email protected]. 
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