Over the 70 years of its existence, the UN has made a great contribution to the fight against hunger and poverty, epidemics and the consequences of disasters. However, its efforts to prevent regional armed conflicts and maintain peace were not so successful.
The seventieth anniversary session of the UN General Assembly became the most representative and important international event of 2015. More than 140 heads of state and government took part in the general political discussion that took place at the session. Were its results predictable? What will be on the agenda of the international community in the future?
The panelists discussed a range of issues, from security issues to cooperation in the humanitarian field. Many speakers expressed concerns about the growing number of global challenges caused by human activities. Uruguayan President Tabare Vázquez went so far as to compare the developments in today's world to an insane asylum overrun by patients. Much attention has been paid to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, adopted shortly before the General Assembly to promote the transition to sustainable production and consumption patterns.
However, most attention was paid to the problem of coordinating international efforts to combat ISIS, which forced the once main threats - the spread of the deadly Ebola fever and the conflict in Ukraine, which were the subject of discussion at the last session - to recede into the background. A task of truly paramount importance in the modern international situation is the fight against international terrorism. Spain and Romania even took the initiative to establish a special international tribunal for members of terrorist organizations. But while world leaders agreed that Syria and Iraq needed to be cleared of terrorist groups, they failed to reach an understanding on how to achieve this goal. In fact, two anti-terrorist groups have begun to take shape, one of which includes the USA, France, Turkey and Qatar, and the other - Russia and Iran.
It turns out that disagreements between states are rooted in the inability to determine the source of the terrorist threat, as well as ways to eliminate it and restore statehood. For example, the Emir of Qatar said that the spread of terrorism in Syria is a response to the brutal suppression of popular discontent. Thus, he seemed to hint that Bashar al-Assad is responsible for the current difficult situation in the country, who, therefore, should no longer remain in power. A similar position was taken by French President Francois Hollande, who accused Assad of using barrel bombs against the civilian population of Syria and questioned the position of the current Syrian president on the post-war settlement. US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also supported the idea that a return to the pre-war status quo between the Syrian government and the opposition is no longer possible. The leaders of Russia and Iran made opposing statements, emphasizing the need to provide assistance to the current Syrian authorities. In their opinion, the rampant terrorism is a consequence of external armed interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country, as was the case with the American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. While such temporary alliances have great potential, without joining forces, it will be extremely difficult for them to defeat ISIS and establish lasting peace in Syria and Iraq.
Another topic that aroused heated debate at the General Assembly session was a compromise on the Iranian nuclear program. The deal was approved and supported by the overwhelming majority of countries, whose representatives called the conclusion of the relevant agreement proof of the effectiveness of diplomacy. The eloquent and passionate speech of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who characterized the deal with Iran as a mistake destined to have the most dire consequences, sounded dissonant. The Israeli leader called on the international community not to gradually ease economic and trade sanctions against Tehran, but, on the contrary, to continue to put pressure on Iran until it fully fulfills its obligations to the IAEA and to begin lifting sanctions no earlier than this happens. It is expected, however, that the parties will continue to implement the nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group, despite its condemnation by Israel, which in this case will act as a biased observer.
The issue of economic sanctions has been very often raised by world leaders whose countries have had or continue to be subject to restrictive measures. For example, GA participants welcomed the US decision to ease trade and economic restrictions against Cuba and restore diplomatic relations with it. However, both Washington and Havana interpreted the first step to lift sanctions and the compromises they reached in their favor. Since the end of the Second World War, sanctions have become an increasingly common means of implementing foreign policy, representing an alternative to military conflicts and hybrid wars. Today, various kinds of economic restrictions are in force against countries such as Iran, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Sudan, Russia and Belarus. Speaking at the General Assembly, representatives of these countries called them illegal and unfounded. Presidents Putin and Lukashenko tried to counter the concept of sanctions with the idea of “integration of integrations,” which consists in harmonizing regional economic projects. However, this idea failed to gain support at the General Assembly.
What do countries like Switzerland, Norway, India, Pakistan and Sierra Leone have in common? At the General Assembly, their representatives, as well as representatives of several other countries, called for deep reform of the UN Security Council. In essence, the main topics of the current session were the future of the UN and its ability to respond to the challenges of our time. There is no doubt that over the 70 years of its existence, the UN has made a great contribution to the fight against hunger and poverty, epidemics and the consequences of disasters. However, its efforts to prevent regional armed conflicts and maintain peace were not so successful. Every time one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council was involved in a conflict in one way or another, the activities of this body were paralyzed. The Assembly participants really liked France's proposal to limit the right of veto in the Security Council when issues such as a threat to peace or the commission of crimes are brought up for discussion. In addition, the representative of France called for an increase in the number of permanent members. Such a reform of the UN would make its decision-making mechanism more flexible. This would also mean its complete departure from the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations, the last pillars of which are precisely the right of veto and the immutability of the composition of the UN Security Council. Security Council reform is already underway, and there is no doubt that the UN Security Council will look completely different by the next anniversary.
According to the Charter of the United Nations, the UN General Assembly has the following functions and powers:
- consider general principles of cooperation in maintaining international peace and security, including in matters of disarmament, and make appropriate recommendations;
- discuss any matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security and make recommendations with respect to such matters, except when any dispute or situation is before the Security Council;
- organize research and prepare recommendations for the promotion of international political cooperation, the development and codification of international law, the implementation of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the promotion of international cooperation in the economic, social and humanitarian fields, and in the fields of culture, education and health;
- to recommend measures for the peaceful settlement of any situation which might disturb friendly relations between nations;
- receive and consider reports of the Security Council and other UN bodies;
- review and approve the budget of the United Nations and determine the assessed contributions of Member States;
- elect non-permanent members of the Security Council and members of other UN councils and organs and, on the recommendation of the Security Council, appoint the Secretary-General.
How are the General Assembly sessions held?
The scheduled session of the UN General Assembly begins with a general debate, at which member states of the organization have the opportunity to express their opinions on the most important international issues.
After the conclusion of the general debate, the General Assembly begins consideration of the main items on its agenda. Since their number is very large (for example, the agenda of the fifty-ninth session included 163 items), the General Assembly distributes agenda items depending on their topic among its six main committees, which discuss them and then present them to the General Assembly for consideration at one of the plenary meetings draft resolutions and decisions.
The six main committees of the General Assembly include:
- Committee on Disarmament and International Security (First Committee): deals with disarmament and related international security issues.
- Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs (Second Committee): deals with economic issues.
- Committee on Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs (Third Committee): deals with problems of a social and humanitarian nature.
- Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee): deals with a variety of political issues outside the scope of the First Committee, as well as decolonization issues.
- Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs (Fifth Committee): deals with administrative matters and the budget of the United Nations.
- Legal Affairs Committee (Sixth Committee): deals with international legal issues.
How are decisions made at the General Assembly session?
Each member state has one vote at a session in the General Assembly. Decisions on certain important issues, such as recommendations regarding peace and security and the election of members of the Security Council, are taken by a two-thirds majority of member states; decisions on other issues are made by a simple majority of votes.
Composition and functions of the General Committee of the General Assembly
The General Committee consists of the Chairman, 21 Vice-Chairmen of the Assembly and the chairmen of the six main committees. The Committee makes recommendations to the Assembly regarding the adoption of the agenda, the allocation of agenda items and the organization of work.
According to the General Assembly resolution “Uniting for Peace” of November 3, 1950, in the event that there is reason to perceive a threat to the peace, a breach of the peace or an act of aggression and the Security Council is unable to act due to a vote against one of the permanent members , The General Assembly may take appropriate measures. Also, the General Assembly may immediately consider this matter with a view to making the necessary recommendations to the Members of the Organization regarding collective measures to maintain or restore international peace and security.
The 70th anniversary session of the UN General Assembly (GA) will begin work at the headquarters of the world organization in New York. The start of the annual cycle, which promises to be one of the busiest in the entire history of the United Nations, will be given by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Austrian diplomat Mogens Lykketoft, who was elected chairman of the 70th session in June.
According to TASS, the official opening ceremony will take place at 15:00 local time (21:00 Kyiv time). The day before, the last meeting of the current 69th session was held at the UN headquarters. Over the past 12 months, the 193 member states of the General Assembly discussed many issues and adopted about 300 resolutions and decisions by vote or consensus.
The agenda of the 70th session of the General Assembly includes 170 topics, including issues of maintaining peace and security, preventing armed conflicts, countering terrorism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, protecting the environment, promoting sustainable development of countries, observing the nuclear non-proliferation regime, protecting human rights and ensuring the rule of law.
Consideration of issues related to reform of the Security Council will also continue. On the last day of work, the 69th session of the General Assembly adopted a resolution that “decides to convene an open-ended working group on the issue of equitable representation in the Security Council and the expansion of its membership.”
In addition, the campaign to elect the UN Secretary General will officially begin within the year. Ban Ki-moon, who has held this post since January 1, 2007, expires on December 31, 2016, and he is not eligible to seek a third five-year term. On September 11, the General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for greater transparency in the process of electing the Secretary General.
So far, the list of possible contenders includes UNESCO Executive Director Irina Bokova, current UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, Chilean and Lithuanian Presidents Michelle Bachelet and Dalia Grybauskaite, and former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
Traditionally, a week after the opening of the session, a general political discussion takes place within the General Assembly - a debate during which delegates from UN member states can speak out on any issue.
However, this year the general debate has been postponed until a later stage, and the first really big event within the GA will be the development summit, which will take place on September 25-27. During it, the global socio-economic development agenda for 2015-2030 will be approved, the draft of which was approved by UN member countries several weeks ago.
Particular attention will be drawn to the summit not only because dozens of heads of state and government will take part in it. On the opening day, September 25, Pope Francis will visit the UN headquarters for the first time in 20 years.
The day after the end of the development summit, a general political discussion begins at the headquarters, in which over 150 heads of state and government, as well as dozens of foreign ministers of UN member states, are expected to participate this year. Speeches by country delegations will last until October 3.
Participants in the general debate are expected to address the world's most pressing issues, including the conflicts in Ukraine, Syria and Yemen, as well as the fight against terrorism, the situation with migrants and global climate change. The first day of debate promises to be the busiest, when the presidents of Russia, Brazil, Iran, Kazakhstan, Poland, the USA and France will speak from the podium of the General Assembly.
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So will the US fight against terrorism or not?
The speech of the Russian President at the UN is discussed by all world media
IS did not arise out of nowhere, it was nurtured as a weapon against unwanted regimes, the Russian President said
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We should all not forget the experiences of the past. For example, we remember examples from the history of the Soviet Union. The export of social experiments, attempts to spur changes in certain countries, based on their ideological principles, often led to tragic consequences, leading not to progress, but to degradation. However, it seems that no one learns from the mistakes of others, but only repeats them, and the export of revolutions, now so-called “democratic,” continues.
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The point is not Russia’s ambitions; it is impossible to tolerate the current situation in the world.
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By acting together, we will make the world stable and safe.
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They want to confront us all with the fact that the rules of the game have been rewritten in the interests of a narrow circle of people
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The decisions discussed at the UN site are agreed upon in the form of resolutions, or are not agreed upon. Or as diplomats say - they pass or they don’t pass. And any actions of any states that bypass this order are illegitimate and contradict the UN Charter and modern international law.
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Aggressive external intervention led to the fact that instead of reforms, state institutions and the way of life were simply unceremoniously destroyed. Instead of the triumph of democracy and progress, there is violence, poverty, social catastrophe, and human rights, including the right to life, are not valued at all.
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I just want to ask those who created such a situation - do you even understand now what you have done? I’m afraid this question will hang in the air, because the policy, which is based on self-confidence in its exclusivity and impunity, has not been abandoned.
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We are all different and this must be respected. No one is obliged to adapt to one model of development, recognized by someone once and for all as the only correct one.
Let us remember that before Putin, the presidents of Brazil, the USA, Poland, China and the king of Jordan made speeches at the UN General Assembly. American leader Barack Obama said that the use of sanctions against Moscow is not evidence of the US desire to return to the Cold War. At the same time, Obama emphasized that the United States is ready to protect its partners and can use force “unilaterally.”
The anniversary assembly began its work on September 16. A meeting between Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama is scheduled to take place on its margins. It is expected that the main topic of conversation will be the situation in Syria. The parties also planned to discuss the conflict in Ukraine.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtP5IEHhfq8
Vladimir Putin, in his speech at the UN General Assembly, called to account those who created a conflict situation in the Middle East and allowed the spread of terrorism.
“Political and social problems have been brewing in this region for a long time, people there, of course, wanted changes. But what happened in reality? Aggressive external intervention led to the fact that instead of reforms, state institutions, and the very way of life, were simply unceremoniously destroyed. Instead of triumph democracy and progress - violence, poverty, social catastrophe, and human rights, including the right to life, are not valued at all,” Putin said in a speech broadcast on the Rossiya 24 channel. “I just want to ask those who created this situation: do you even understand now what you did?”
The Russian President drew attention to the danger of exporting “democratic” revolutions. “The export of revolutions, now so-called democratic ones, continues,” Putin said. He clarified that in all the countries where this happened, the situation did not progress, but deteriorated.
www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=2669282&cid=5
It is no longer possible to tolerate the current situation in the world. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his speech at the UN General Assembly. This applies to both the situation in the Middle East and the crisis in Ukraine. According to him, the coup in Ukraine was provoked from the outside. Regarding Syria, Vladimir Putin called for support for the legitimate government of Bashar al-Assad, as well as support for the governments of Libya and Iraq.
Original article: russian.rt.com/article/119710#ixzz3n3LbIisW
The 70th session of the UN General Assembly is taking place in New York. On Monday, a general political discussion starts within the framework of the General Assembly session. More than 150 heads of state and government, as well as foreign ministers and heads of delegations will address its participants.
Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to take part in the General Assembly meeting. Before this, Putin spoke at three sessions of the General Assembly - in 2000, after becoming president, in 2003 and 2005. In 2009, President Dmitry Medvedev spoke at the session.
Moscow and Washington agreed to hold a meeting between Putin and US President Barack Obama on September 28 on the sidelines of the General Assembly session.
New ones first
New ones first
From old to new
Hollande suggested that Security Council members not use the veto in the event of mass deaths. A veto is not the right to block, but the right to act, the French President believes.
Hollande proposed creating a coalition that would form a new government that would lead Syria into a future without dictatorship.
Turning to the topic of the Middle East, Hollande said that the situation in Syria “requires intervention.” He agreed with the need to find a joint solution, but recalled that the tragedy began with a revolution that wanted to overthrow a dictatorship that was killing its own people. “Three years ago we were not talking about terrorists,” Hollande said. According to him, many Syrians fled the country not from war and terrorists, but from the “Assad regime.” The French president stressed that the tragedy arose “due to the alliance of terrorists and dictatorship.”
Hollande believes that developed countries need to allocate $100 billion to transition to a new energy policy.
French President Francois Hollande began his speech with fears that the planet faces problems if no agreement is reached on climate change.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met on the sidelines of the UN with the organization's Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. In a conversation with him, the head of state expressed hope for reaching agreements on the fight against terrorism. At the same time, Putin emphasized that without strengthening state structures in the states of the region, including Syria, the task of combating terrorism cannot be solved.
Terrorism arises in the shadow of tyranny, fueled by hatred after torture in prisons. We confirm our readiness to fight terrorism, but we need to understand its causes, the Qatari leader believes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, after speaking at a session of the UN General Assembly, briefly spoke “on his feet” with the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, TASS reports. After his speech, Putin left the meeting room, where several dozen people were waiting for him for the traditional greeting. Coming out of the hall, the Russian President saw Rakhmon among those greeting him and approached him, after which the two presidents exchanged several phrases.
Iraq, Syria, Yemen are examples of crises that are fueled by extremism and the indifference of the international community, Rouhani believes. The roots of today's wars are military interventions and invasions.
“It is necessary that US actions take into account the realities of the region,” the Iranian president concluded.
“If not for the US military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq” and its support for the Zionist regime, the terrorists would not have been able to justify their crimes, Rouhani added.
The Iranian President noted the dangers posed by terrorist organizations in the Middle East and North Africa. According to him, these organizations “could turn into terrorist states.”
“We believe that in order to fight terrorists, it is necessary to adopt a legally binding international document so that no country can use terrorism as an excuse to interfere in the affairs of other states,” the Iranian leader noted, adding that Tehran supports the establishment of democracy in Syria and Yemen.
“We support the establishment of power through elections, not through weapons,” Rouhani said. He called for the creation of a united front to combat extremism and violence.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (Photo: webtv.un.org)
Putin proposed returning to the basic principles of the UN, announced at the first session of the General Assembly in January 1946 in London: good will, contempt for intrigue and the spirit of cooperation.
Unilateral sanctions “bypassing the UN” pursue political goals and, in addition, make it possible to eliminate economic competitors, the Russian leader believes. In return, he proposes to speed up integration processes, citing Russia’s cooperation with China as an example.
In addition, he noted, a number of countries have taken the path of closed exclusive economic associations, and negotiations on their creation are being conducted behind the scenes. “They probably want to confront us all with the fact that the rules of the game can be changed, and without the participation of the WTO. This affects the interests of all states,” warns the Russian President, proposing to discuss this issue with the participation of the UN and the WTO.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's permanent representative to the UN Yuriy Sergeev
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