UN General Assembly Opens Amid Wars, Shifting Power and Deep Uncertainty

World leaders are gathering in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly against a backdrop that diplomats describe as deeply unsettled, with two escalating wars, a global economy in flux and a shifting international order.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said leaders would be meeting "in an era of deep uncertainty," adding that power is shifting and that international institutions must change along with the world.

The past nine months alone have brought a series of shocks. A U.S. military operation removed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power, and a deadly crackdown followed in Iran after tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators challenged the country's theocracy. The United States and Israel then launched a joint attack against Tehran, setting off a spiralling conflict that now involves nearly every country in the region and has effectively closed a critical waterway.

The war between Russia and Ukraine, now more than four years old, shows no sign of ending, with both sides intensifying military attacks in recent days while repeated diplomatic efforts have failed to produce a breakthrough.

Other crises have compounded the sense of strain. An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda in May raised fresh questions about international readiness for the next pandemic. Deadly earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia, along with severe flash floods in Nepal and Tibet, underscored the growing impact of human-caused global warming on communities worldwide.

In interviews before the meeting, current and former ministers, ambassadors and officials from several countries painted a bleak picture of the crises facing the international community and questioned whether the UN and its 193 member states can address them. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss international concerns freely.

Former U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood, who served at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations under Republican and Democratic administrations, said the UN is at an inflection point. "It was bad last year. It's not much better this year," he said.

A European diplomat and another official echoed that assessment, saying the world is no better off than a year ago and has become more unstable. They pointed to attacks on international law, the breakdown or absence of mediation efforts, and the continued failure to build global consensus on issues such as climate and peace and security.

Beyond the headline speeches from leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian, officials hope to use the gathering for sideline meetings with adversaries and allies. Among the aims are breaking deadlocks on maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz and on runaway artificial intelligence.

Asked what they hoped to gain from the week, one Gulf official said it would be valuable simply to return to a measure of predictability on the world stage.

Slovenia's foreign minister, Tone Kajzer, said that while friendships and alliances are shifting, interests remain constant. "What remains constant is the interests and how to align those interests so that we live in peace and not in a permanent conflict," he said.