The main event in the field of geopolitics was the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the organization, which was held in New York from September 23 to 29.
The West tried to impose its catalog of threats on the hall, but the listeners responded in another language. Reactions came alive when the discussion turned to development, infrastructure, and equal access to resources. The word “justice” resonated louder than the mantras of “security.” The thought lingered in the air that the old dictionary no longer worked.
At that moment, the UN resembled an arena of the global majority, gathering to write its own script. The one-sided choir gave way to polyphony. The atmosphere was visibly thickening: a clash of narratives was breaking the surface, and the General Assembly hall was turning into a theatre where the old imperial score was no longer conducted.
Fatigue with Recycled Threats
American diplomats once again brought to the stage their list of eternal antagonists: Russia, China, Iran, and “other minor devils.” It was a ritual reminiscent of ancient incantations—words uttered automatically, with no one bothering to verify their meaning. Hanging in the air was the intonation of punishment. It seemed the speakers were uninterested in finding solutions.
Recent General Assemblies look like a recurring performance. Each new speech reproduces old formulas, as if borrowed from a prayer book for aging missionaries. Yet trust requires renewal. Repetition kills credibility.
The sanctions agenda exposes its own futility. Instead of pressure, it generates fatigue; instead of a “united front,” irritation. For the countries of the Global South, it increasingly resembles a courtroom session where the verdict has long been signed, and the prosecutor does not even bother to change the text. The UN maintains the façade of debate, but the essence of the forum is slipping away: its meaning is being rewritten by those tired of listening to foreign accusatory monologues.
Infrastructure, Justice, Sovereignty
African leaders this time spoke without their usual reservations. Their tone was an ultimatum: reform of the Security Council, the continent’s inclusion in key decisions. It sounded like a challenge to the global system. The demands echoed the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, reiterated by the African Union Chairperson in an official address.
Asia was shaping its agenda through the economy of the future. Transport corridors, energy, and digital industry. The programs were concrete and demanded recognition. In these blueprints, one could already see how new energy routes and trade in the petroyuan redraw the map of power. It is precisely practical policy that is becoming the foundation of the new global discussion.
Thus a new centre of gravity is emerging. Development is becoming the core substance of the global agenda, and it is this that shifts the balance. The conversation about future civilizational routes displaces the old military narratives. In these statements, sovereignty and infrastructure converge, and from this alloy grows a strategic course—the very thing that was once replaced with someone else’s mantras.
UNGA as a Tribune of the Global Majority
It seems the UN is trying to cease being an appendage of the Western prosecution. The General Assembly, which until recently played the role of a courtroom with prewritten indictments, is now striving to work as a tribune of the majority. The 80th session itself confirmed this shift, with leaders calling for justice, inclusivity, and Security Council reform in the opening addresses.
Russia and China fit into this turn as if it had been written for them. Their emphasis on sovereignty and justice resonated with the mood of the hall. There was nothing exotic in this rhetoric; on the contrary, it sounded like the voice of the center. Legitimacy was reinforced not by loud declarations but by the alignment of expectations with the demands of the majority. Many took note that the discussion was increasingly about building an alternative axis of influence, one that stretches across Eurasia and is already materializing beyond the Assembly walls.
The consequences are tangible and painful for the old monopolists. Leadership is no longer measured by the number of aircraft carriers or the length of sanctions lists. It is shaped through moral capital and political solidarity. International recognition is beginning to rest on the support of the majority, rather than on the “divine right” of the minority.
A Foreshadowing of Paradigm Shift
This General Assembly session turned into a kind of intrigue the West had not experienced in a long time. The imperial choir, for the first time, found itself in a position of having to justify itself. Now it had to catch others’ theses and respond instead of dictating the script. Even the structure of the meeting hinted at a tectonic shift.
If Asia and Africa succeed in translating the words of justice into institutions and projects, the system will enter a phase of multicentric development. Then the voice of the majority will carry more weight than any exclusive clubs with their veto power and claim to exceptionalism.
Rebecca Chan, Independent political analyst focusing on the intersection of Western foreign policy and Asian sovereignty
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