As the field of candidates grows, their competing visions for reform, development, representation and the UN’s financial future offer an early glimpse of how each would lead an organization in crisis. As Manhattan’s sidewalks filled with bleary-eyed morning commuters, many carrying piping-hot cups of coffee, and city buses wobbled along traffic-packed streets, four candidates arrived…
Along the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, global leaders and dealmakers gather to celebrate Africa’s present and claim its future. Global leaders in finance, government, and civil society gathered in New York City for two days this week for Unstoppable Africa, an event that promotes investment, business development, and prosperity…
From Brazil’s election-season diplomacy to Venezuela’s return and a crowded UN leadership race, Latin America arrives at UNGA81 with unusual geopolitical weight–and a potential UN office to fill. Latin America is carrying more weight at this year’s high-level week than it has in previous years. From Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opening the debate…
Some are arriving for the first time. Others may be saying goodbye. These are the leaders poised to shape the politics, drama and diplomacy of this year’s General Assembly. Part of the fun of covering the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Debate (UNGA) as a journalist involves watching world leaders discuss issues tackled by the…
The United Nations is strangely quiet in August. I can walk through the Secretariat Building’s winding corridors without dodging delegations, journalists hauling heavy cameras, or civil society representatives searching for conference rooms. I can cross First Avenue to go to work without the NYPD surveying the scene. And I can grab a coffee a few…
As UNGA brings the world’s leaders to New York, diplomatic gift-giving offers a window into how countries court allies, signal priorities and seek influence. While visiting Buckingham Palace in March, President Zelensky of Ukraine gifted King Charles an Apple iPad. But this one was unlike any other. With one swipe of a finger, the…
Guterres championed Africa’s voice at the UN. Turning that advocacy into political results proved harder. “Even after 31 December, wherever I will be and whatever I will be doing, I can guarantee that at the centre of my concerns and my active solidarity, there will always be Africa,” he said. He was speaking at the…
From Khrushchev’s shoe to Arafat’s gun, some of the UN’s most memorable moments remain suspended between history, exaggeration and folklore. But how much of that history is true? What do we remember from more than 80 years of UN General Assembly gatherings? If we’re New Yorkers, it may be the gridlock spreading across Midtown Manhattan…
Envoy’s insider’s guide to UNGA81 examines how the Security Council’s five permanent members are shaping the agenda—and where cooperation remains possible despite deepening geopolitical divides. UN HEADQUARTERS. The 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, a form of diplomatic speed dating, opens on September 8. “High-level” week, when the heads of state and their…
For the spouses of diplomats, every posting can mean another country, another home, and yet another time they must rebuild their lives. Diplomatic spouses are not diplomats, generally have no official role, and yet their lives, careers, and families are profoundly shaped by diplomacy. While they may have no official title, they often perform a…
From Iran to Gaza, Pakistan is betting that relationships across rival blocs can give middle powers greater diplomatic influence as the Security Council struggles to act. Pakistan entered its Security Council term carrying the baggage of its own regional rivalries. It may leave it arguing that those same geopolitical relationships have become an asset. As…
As the UN enters its ninth decade in crisis, Khalilur Rahman of Bangladesh takes the helm of the General Assembly—with a promise and a problem. On June 2, 2026, the United Nations General Assembly Hall fell silent as Annalena Baerbock read out the result of a secret ballot: 99 votes for Khalilur Rahman of Bangladesh,…
This year, three candidates are backed by countries that are not their own, raising a question at the heart of the UN race: can an “orphan” candidate lead the world? It plays like a deleted scene from The Terminal. You know the one: Tom Hanks, as Viktor Navorski, stands in an airport lounge, staring at…
Former Senegalese president Macky Sall wants to succeed António Guterres as UN secretary-general. His controversial candidacy, filed by Burundi, reveals as much about his international ambitions as about the resistance his political legacy has generated. Former Senegalese President Macky Sall took the world and Senegal by surprise when he announced his bid for UN…
NEW YORK, Sept. 2 — Envoy Magazine is proud to announce its partnership as a media partner of Unstoppable Africa 2026, the Global Africa Business Initiative’s flagship gathering, taking place Sept. 20 and 21 at the Marriott Marquis in New York. Unstoppable Africa 2026 is hosted by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and H.E. Mahmoud Ali…
A decade after the UN’s most open secretary-general race, former candidates Susana Malcorra and Irina Bokova say the contest remains less an election than a diplomatic selection—one shaped by public scrutiny, private bargaining, and the veto power of the Security Council’s permanent five. The concept is eerily familiar: candidates gather in a television studio, talk…
The candidates to lead the United Nations all have views on AI policy, but the institution’s survival will depend on something harder: deploying it from within. The field is uneven. The world is already being reorganized around artificial intelligence. At the UN, the conversation still focuses largely on regulation: frameworks, safeguards, treaties, governance principles. Those…
