The annual United Nations General Assembly week is always frenetic.
It might be called the Super Bowl of diplomacy, but this year it might be more appropriate to compare it to a marathon.
Not since World War II have there been so many global conflicts, and Lebanon was in crisis just as the leaders arrived in New York City.
Given the current climate of uncertainty, the upcoming US election has been on everyone’s mind here.
A senior Western diplomat told me that no one expects things to move on in the Israel-Gaza war until a winner is determined in the White House race.
“I understand that the current administration is under pressure not to make any decisions that could affect the election,” he said.
“However, we hope that after the election, the current government will use the interim period to take some decisions that will improve the situation in Gaza.”
But in conversations with more than a dozen officials from various continents at U.N. headquarters in Manhattan, I learned that the international community is exhausted by the crisis and has given up on cooperating with whoever the next occupant of the White House is. A picture emerged that there was one.
All participants were given anonymity and were able to share their honest opinions.
“I don’t see any difference between the two candidates. Just look around the world. We are in complete chaos,” said an ambassador from a South Asian country. told me.
This is a sentiment that perhaps reflects disillusionment with U.S. leadership, but in practice broader U.S. foreign policy does not fluctuate that dramatically from administration to administration, although the rhetoric changes. It also reflects the views of many people.
“It’s very easy to bash or warn about what’s going to happen,” one senior Arab representative told me.
He thinks former President Donald Trump is more unpredictable than Vice President Kamala Harris, but the idea that he will tear apart multilateralism is exaggerated because that hasn’t happened before. , he said.
“What’s really undermining multilateralism are the actions and conflicts happening in many parts of the world, and you can’t blame one country or one regime for that,” he said.
Here at the U.N. compound, a longtime U.N. official told me there was no panic about the U.S. election.
“There’s enough anxiety around what’s happening today to be worried about what’s going to happen in November,” the official said.
The official added that the UN survived the Trump administration in a way that few expected.
“It may have been very loud, but it wasn’t all that different from previous Republicans,” the source said.
The official feels that if there is a second term, President Trump may not initially focus on foreign policy as he focuses on domestic issues and “resolving domestic issues.” an official told me.
Kenyan President William Ruto appeared unfazed in an interview with the BBC.
“I am very confident that the essence of the friendship between Kenya and the United States goes beyond the individuals in office,” he said. “It’s going to be something that transcends me as president and beyond me as an elected official of the United States.”
But for many Europeans, there are concerns about the second Trump administration and what some see as President Trump’s transactional approach to foreign relations.
One European diplomat said the Security Council’s inability to manage the conflict meant that a bolder and potentially more radical Trump administration would further exacerbate the dysfunction and push for far-right movements in Europe. He told me that he was concerned that it would further encourage
“I think if Harris becomes president, at least the majority of Europeans will feel safe,” he said.
Nevertheless, another senior European diplomat said Harris’ victory would provide a sense of continuity, but that she feels better prepared than she was in 2016, in part because of her four years of working with President Trump. He said there was.
Coinciding with the United Nations high-level debate, New York City hosted Climate Week. Caribbean leaders addressed a room full of businessmen and politicians not only in the Green and Gold General Assembly Hall but also at a side event, warning that the world is dangerously behind in tackling climate change. He warned that the country was putting its islands at risk.
One of the region’s ministers said the main area where the differences between the U.S. candidates worried them was climate. “In terms of real commitment from the U.S. government and leadership from the U.S. government, it’s definitely Democratic,” he said.
Many may remember that President Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord and then Joe Biden returned.
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis said political change has been the issue of progress for the past 26 years. He said he had called for some mechanism to prevent progress from being blocked or reversed by changes in political leadership.
For diplomats here last week who have faced more challenges than solutions, voting day on November 5 may seem far away.
But as vote counting approaches in the United States, a new face will be added to the White House.
Another European minister rushed to the event and said to me: “I hope it doesn’t get too weird.”
Additional reporting by Cai Pigliucci.