Joe Biden has taken advantage of the United Nations General Assembly podium to appeal to an ally of United States, Israel, to halt the military escalation in Lebanon and avoid "a widespread war" that, he said, "is not in anyone's interest." Biden has insisted that "even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible. In fact, it remains the only path to a lasting security system that allows residents of both countries to return home and live in peace."
Biden's speech was a farewell to five decades of presence in the international arena, and a call for optimism, but without ignoring the conflicts plaguing the world, especially in the Middle East, Ukraine, and Sudan. This is where the U.S. president's most immediate message was focused, expressing his frustration at the failure of his own diplomacy to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and prevent the conflict from spreading to Lebanon and also to West Bank.
Biden stated that "since October 7, we have been trying to prevent a regional war," referring to the message sent by Washington to Tel Aviv after the attacks by Hamas that triggered the war, urging not to repeat the mistakes of United States after 9/11, when it not only invaded Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda was, but also Iraq.
Although Biden explicitly attributed all responsibility for the conflicts to Hamas and Hezbollah, indirectly, Biden has called on Israel for restraint, which Tel Aviv rejects. In fact, and without mentioning that country, Biden sent a message of distancing. He mentioned twice the situation in West Bank, where hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by settlers and the Israeli Armed Forces since the war in Gaza erupted.
He also equated the suffering of the families of hostages taken by Hamas after the terrorist attacks on October 7, which triggered the current war, with that of civilians in Gaza. "They are going through hell," Biden reminded the families of the kidnapped, before adding that "the innocent civilians in Gaza are also going through hell." The U.S. president has called for the creation of a Palestinian state, something the current Israeli government opposes.
At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that Israel will continue to bomb Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, amid a worsening of hostilities between the Israeli army and the Iranian-backed Islamist movement.
"We will continue to strike Hezbollah (...). And I say to the Lebanese people: our war is not against you, our war is against Hezbollah," Netanyahu declared in a video released by his office.
Prior to Biden's intervention, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, proclaimed on Tuesday that "the state of our world is unsustainable" and that "we cannot continue like this."
The Portuguese politician pointed out the three major evils affecting the world: impunity, which is repeated in all major current conflicts - in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, or Sudan; inequality, which is worsening both among countries and within their borders; and the uncertainty generated by climate change and uncontrolled artificial intelligence (AI).
As is customary in this forum, the Secretary-General reviewed the world's major problems, stemming from wars, geopolitical divisions, social and technological gaps, and although he said that "the challenges we face are not insurmountable," his diagnosis was bleak.
Invading another country and devastating societies without any cost
Regarding impunity, he lamented that an increasing number of countries feel they can violate the UN Charter and international humanitarian laws, "invade another country, devastate entire societies, or blatantly ignore the well-being of their own population."
He said this arrogant attitude is found in the Middle East, in the heart of Europe, and in the Horn of Africa, and he particularly focused on Gaza, where the war is about to reach its one-year mark with a devastating toll of 41,300 Palestinian deaths. He posed a question to Israel (without naming it) and the international community about the future after the war.
"How can the world accept the future of a State (Israel) that includes a large number of Palestinians without any freedom, rights, or dignity?" he exclaimed. And he received a round of applause when he reminded that "nothing can justify collective punishment in Gaza."
And if in the past, during the Cold War, there were red lines and guardrails, "one feels that they do not exist today, nor do we have a unipolar world," defining the current world as a kind of purgatory "where more and more countries fill the spaces of geopolitical division and do as they please without being held accountable."
Regarding inequality, he noted that "it is not a technical or bureaucratic issue; fundamentally, it is a matter of power with historical roots," and pointed out that this has worsened in recent times, as two-thirds of the 75 poorest countries in the world are worse off than five years ago; during this same period, the five richest men in the world have doubled their fortunes.
43% of wealth in the hands of 1% of the population
One percent of the world's population owns 43% of the planet's financial assets, and yet, in many countries, governments provide tax gifts to large companies and the 'ultra-rich' at the expense of investments in health, education, or social protection, criticized Guterres in what seemed like a veiled reference to the United States.
And "those with political and economic power, and those who believe they have it, are always resistant to change," but he reminded them that "without reforms, fragmentation is inevitable, and global institutions will lose legitimacy, credibility, and effectiveness."
Regarding uncertainties, he said that the world is understanding that a future without fossil fuels is secure, "but the rapid transition is not," and criticized that in many countries "oil companies amass huge fortunes thanks to subsidies," while ordinary people bear the costs of the climate catastrophe.
Regarding AI, he acknowledged that it will change everything we know, but questioned in which direction: "Towards more freedom or more conflict?, towards a more sustainable world, or greater inequality?, towards being better informed, or easily manipulated?".
He warned against a noticeable fact, that a few companies have accumulated enormous power over AI without any oversight, and reminded that only global control can prevent what he called "the Great Fracture."