The 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly has convened amid a profound global realignment, as a diplomatic vacuum emerges due to waning U.S. financial contributions.
Other nations are leveraging this opportunity to reshape the organization’s agenda, with this shift particularly evident in the diplomatic push for a resolution to the war in Gaza and in the recent vote on Palestinian representation.
The perceived vacuum, however, may be more of a strategic shift.
Writing in a Friday analysis for Foreign Policy, Richard Gowan, U.N. director at the International Crisis Group, noted that while the U.S. is not likely to leave the U.N. altogether, it will instead continue in a more difficult, less supportive role — a position he describes as “infuriating and irreplaceable.” He adds that "nobody is sure how the U.N. will evolve if the United States keeps it arm’s length."
A new diplomatic initiative, led by France and Saudi Arabia, is underway with a nonbinding "New York Declaration" that proposes a phased plan for a two-nation solution.
Proponents argue this reflects a broad international consensus for peace, while critics in the U.S. and Israel dismiss the effort as a means to circumvent established diplomatic channels.
The General Assembly's willingness to operate independently of U.S. policy was underscored by a vote to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address the session by video after the U.S. denied him a visa.
The motion passed by a vote of 145-5, with six abstentions. The U.S. opposed these efforts, arguing the promise of statehood emboldened Hamas and complicated ceasefire talks. Its position aligns with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which contends a Palestinian state would reward the militant group responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
The diplomatic challenge follows the Trump administration’s Middle East envoy walking away from ceasefire talks in July. The peace process suffered a further blow when Israel conducted a strike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar, a key mediator.
The U.S. State Department’s subsequent revocation of visas for approximately 80 Palestinian officials, including Abbas, drew widespread backlash and was labeled a violation of the U.S. host country agreement with the U.N.
Why it still matters
The French-Saudi plan outlines a phased establishment of a Palestinian nation in the West Bank, Gaza, and east Jerusalem — territories captured by Israel in 1967. It would be governed by Abbas's Palestinian Authority, a rival of Hamas that currently administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security.
Many Palestinians, however, view the Authority's leadership as corrupt, and a vast majority want the 89-year-old Mr. Abbas, whose mandate expired in 2009, to resign. The last national elections were in 2006, when Hamas won in a landslide.
The session also features internal reform efforts led by the new General Assembly President, Annalena Baerbock of Germany, and a push to reinvigorate the U.N.’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
On Tuesday, the annual General Debate will welcome world leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump and will include the first-ever General Assembly addresses by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
"The world needs the United Nations. In no way would we be better off without it. This remains the only organization capable of bringing together every country in the world," Baerbock told diplomats at the start of the 80th session.
But this must be the year "to adapt, to evolve, and to build" the U.N. of the future, she added, and "to show 8 billion people around the world why this organization still matters."
