World leaders to meet at UN amid wars, global crises

This week 140 world leaders and representatives of another 53 countries will be meeting here this week under the shadow of intractable wars and conflicts for the annual high-level meeting.

When the meeting starts on Tuesday with the traditional first national address by Brazil’s President Lula da Silva, followed by US President Donald Trump, the Gulf Conflict, the Ukraine War, the Gaza situation, and the Sudan civil war of genocidal proportions will hang heavy over the General Assembly



chamber.

The perils of a runaway artificial intelligence will be added this year to the climate crisis, terrorism, and global hunger and poverty as top areas of concern. 

The high falutin speeches in the General Assembly chamber, threaded with boasts and recriminations, but also genuine insights into global problems, may be the face of the high-level meeting, but the real action is in the meetings in missions, hotels and temporary cubicles erected in the UN hallways. And even in informal encounters in the halls of the UN.