The 80th UNGA (UN General Assembly) is open

The President of the 80th session, H.E. Annalena Baerbock, opened the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 9 September 2025, at 3pm (local time in New York).

I listened to her speech of pablum but could not make it through.  You may find it here:

The first period of UNGA consists of maintenance issues and procedural matters.

High Level Week will start on September 22nd.  The first meeting will commemorate the UN’s 80th anniversary and consider “the path ahead for a more inclusive and responsive multilateral system”.  On Tuesday, September 23, the General Debate begins, with at least 188 heads of state, heads of government, or other high-ranking officials preliminarily set to speak through September 29.

It is so that all illusions about this body have been stripped away.  Yet, both Russia and China consider that the UN, as a world body, is still needed, and with the necessary institutional updates, it could continue to function.  That is about the only reason why I pay attention and also because the UN holds the body of international law.

Expected to dominate as topics are the waning US support and institutional reform.

Already sparking dismay ahead of this year’s event has been a decision by the United States, under the administration of President Donald Trump, to withhold or revoke visas for Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Liberation Organization officials to attend the gathering.  That comes as France and Saudi Arabia are set to host a conference on Israel and Palestine, promising to join several European countries in recognising a Palestinian state.   (Note that France currently is laid low with protests, and Saudi Arabia needs to decide who their real allies are, post-Qatar strikes by Israel with what is almost certainly full knowledge of the US Administration.)

While recognition of Palestine as a full member of the UN would require UNSC approval, a move almost surely to be vetoed by the US, the increased recognition will prove symbolically significant.

It’s now very, very clear that both financially and politically, the UN faces massive crises.  If there is a way through that, as Russia and China believe, remains to be seen.

The UNGA is the main deliberative and policy-making body of the UN. It is the only body in the organisation where all 193 member countries have representation. Palestine and the Holy See have non-member observer status.

Under the UN Charter, which entered into force in 1945, the body is charged with addressing matters of international peace and security, particularly if those matters are not being addressed by the UN Security Council (UNSC), a 15-member panel with five permanent, veto-wielding members: France, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the US.  The UNGA also debates matters of human rights, international law, and cooperation in “economic, social, cultural, educational, and health fields”.

Operationally, the UNGA approves the UN’s sprawling annual budget, with one of its six main committees managing the funding of 11 active peacekeeping missions around the world.  The US is still the primary contributor of funds.

The first weeks of the UN General Assembly are known for history-making moments: Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez calling George HW Bush “the devil”; Muammar Gaddafi’s 100-minute screed in 2009 against the “terror and sanctions” of the UNSC; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s literal drawing of a red line under Iran’s nuclear programme.

That also includes Trump’s inaugural speech in 2017, when he first took the podium, pledging to, among other aims, “totally destroy” North Korea.

Note that we do not have publically what Mr Putin said in the recent extraordinary BRICS meeting. I have not seen Chinese commentary either. Will we see surprises during High Level Week?  Will we see coherence of multipolarity and multilateralism?  I expect some indications.  It is also clear that while countries organize events around UN objectives, the question will be:  ‘Should we do this in Geneva or Vienna or Nairobi?  If the US isn’t going to give out visas, then what’s the point of trying to do the global meetings there?