UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for a networked multipolar world, instead of one of fragmentation and transactionalism.
Addressing the UN General Assembly before the opening of this year's general debate, Guterres said "We are clearly moving towards a multipolar world. And that movement is irreversible." He added that there are different ways that multipolarity can take shape.
One possibility is a world of fragmentation and transactionalism, a world of rising tensions and deepening mistrust, of fractured markets and weakened institutions, of shrinking cooperation and zero-sum calculations, Guterres said. In many respects, that is the trajectory we are on today, he added.
But there is another path -- a path toward networked multipolarity: a world built on interdependence, and sustained by a dense web of economic, political, social and technological connections; a world in which multiple centers of influence coexist within a common framework of international law and shared rules, the UN chief noted.
Such an order, he stressed, could prevent the world from splitting into two rival blocs with separate economic, technological and security systems.
"A networked multipolar world can create the conditions for more balanced and representative global problem-solving, but it requires a multilateral system centered in the UN that is balanced and representative," he said.
Looking ahead, Guterres said that the world's future will be shaped by how it addresses "four great tests of power": the power over war and peace; the power that concentrates wealth and drives inequality; the power fueling climate chaos and the war on nature; and the power unleashed by artificial intelligence.
Noting that the UN Charter and the organization's work matter more than ever, he said that the United Nations exists because power requires rules, and humanity needs a place where power answers to principle.
Stressing that the UN Charter leaves no room for selective reading, the UN chief called on all member countries to defend the UN Charter and safeguard the role of the United Nations.
"The world does not need a weaker United Nations. It needs an UN strong enough to face the world as it is and determined enough to build the world as it should be. The greatest power is not the power to dominate. It is the power to build a future that works for everyone," Guterres added.
UN chief calls for networked multipolar world
