Geopolitical divides fueling Security Council inaction, Guterres warns
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for a “reform” of the Security Council, blaming the conduct of major powers for the body’s “paralysis”.
Responding at a news conference on Wednesday to a question about why calls to respect international law have gone unheeded, Guterres pointed to geopolitical divisions among major powers.
“We have geopolitical divides, and in these geopolitical divides, we have powers that themselves violate international law and sit in the Security Council … and that has been paralysing the Security Council,” he said.
“That is why the reform of the Security Council must be an absolute priority,” Guterres said, adding that there must be a redistribution of power as “power relations no longer correspond to the realities of the world”.
One of these realities for the UN chief is the impunity with which Israel has continued its genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank.
“Peace cannot be achieved in the Middle East without resolving the Palestinian-Israeli crisis,” Guterres said while calling for an immediate end to Israeli ethnic cleansing of occupied Palestinian territory.
“We are witnessing gradual annexation in the West Bank and violations committed by settlers with the support of Israeli security forces.”
Peace in the Middle East “will not be achieved without a two-state solution”, he added.
The UN chief also spoke on the situation in Ukraine and the prospects of a ceasefire, saying he would be “delighted” to facilitate trilateral Ukraine peace talks at the UN General Assembly if key parties agree.
“It is absolutely essential to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine and to create conditions to move towards a just peace. Unfortunately we see that war is going on and on and on and we see devastating consequences for the global economy,” he said.
The UN chief also mentioned artificial intelligence, saying there is a need to promote a “global and coordinated” vision to address the threat of “runaway” AI.
“You cannot afford to ignore concerns that have been raised, especially by those on the front lines of the development of AI.”
Last week, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a blog post saying the AI industry must slow the pace of improving the technology’s capabilities to allow time for guardrails.
“At a time when the world faces three existential threats – runaway artificial intelligence, climate crisis, and the intolerable deepening of inequalities – international cooperation is more necessary than ever.”
