What to expect at the UN General Assembly this week



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The United Nations Annual General Assembly will take place this week in a context of crisis – from global warming to economic uncertainty, to heated conflict that threatens to drag the United States even further into the world. unstable climate of the Middle East.

Trade wars, migration, energy supplies, climate change and poverty eradication underpin the basic themes of the agenda of the 193 members of the General Assembly. But the actions of the Trump administration, which has sometimes expressed disdain for international institutions such as the United Nations, have created a common denominator.

"All the main topics that people are going to talk about in the corridors are related to: What is American politics?" Said Jeffrey D. Feltman, former US diplomat and former UN Under-Secretary of Political Affairs.

Some leaders do not come, including Chinese presidents Xi Jinping and Russian Vladimir Putin, and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister struggling. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, considered by the Trump administration and by about 50 other governments as an illegitimate leader, is not expected either.

President Trump, whose penchant for diplomatic, alarmist and diplomatic bombings is well known, will be surrounded Tuesday by a like-minded company when the speeches begin.

Trump will be preceded by Brazilian President Jair M. Bolsonaro, sometimes called mini-trump, a polarizing figure at home who, like Trump, ignores fears over climate change and ridicules criticism on Twitter.

Until recently, speculation abounded on the fact that Mr. Trump would make history by meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. But the Sept. 14 attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, which US and US officials blame Iran, has at best rendered such an unlikely meeting.

US officials should present what they described as evidence that Iran has conducted the attack using drones and cruise missiles. Iran has denied the prosecution. The Houthi rebels in Yemen, backed by Iran in its fight against a Saudi coalition bombing their country for more than four years, have claimed responsibility.

Mr. Rouhani will be speaking on Wednesday and he will almost certainly say that Mr. Trump unleashed the cycle of conflict by withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal with the major powers and imposing heavy sanctions paralyze its economy.

The United States is trying to form a coalition to dissuade Iran, although it is unclear what form this deterrence would take. The General Assembly gives the administration an opportunity to "continue to move slowly in the military response to an increased coalition and increased political and economic pressure," said Aaron David Miller, senior official of Carnegie Endowment for International. Peace.

The climate crisis is one of the priorities of the General Assembly. Some 60 heads of state are planning to speak at Monday's Climate Action Summit, and officials are planning to announce initiatives that include zero net carbon emissions in buildings.

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