Hyde: National agendas, sometimes conflicting, hinder what the UN can achieve

Andrew G. Hyde, Senior Fellow and Director of the Conflict Transformation and Governance Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, told Kosovo Online that the United Nations needs more fundamental reforms to be fit for purpose in the 21st century, but that the real question is what UN reform actually means.

“Many may say they support reform, but what they want to see from reform is very different. The United States under the current administration has very ambitious goals for reform. I don’t know if other member states fully share them. So, I think there is interest in reform, but what it will look like and how far it will go is a big question,” Hyde stressed.

He also believes the UN has the capacity to cope with today’s challenges, but is not allowed to use it in a way that would make it successful.

“There are a number of national agendas within the UN that are sometimes in conflict with each other, and those agendas hinder what the UN can actually achieve,” he pointed out.

Both large and small nations, he said, need to understand that there is no alternative to this organization, and that the “UN is the tool we have.”

“We just need to be able to provide them with enough political support, enough financial support, so they can do their job and successfully represent global aspirations,” Hyde believes.

He added that it is also necessary to ensure political coherence in order for the UN to be supported politically on the global stage in conflicts that matter.

“In Ukraine, for example, the UN is currently not playing an active role. We know what happened in Gaza and the Middle East. They’re not playing a role. These are not decisions the UN itself has made. These are decisions that political leaders around the world have made, saying: ‘We will put the UN aside. The UN will not be part of these peace processes.’ That needs to change, because it is the only way to succeed in finding peace in those conflicts,” Hyde assessed.

The General Debate of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly will begin tomorrow, and in this jubilee year, the theme of the general debate is “Stronger Together: 80 Years and Beyond for Peace, Development and Human Rights.”