For an organisation at the very heart of international diplomacy, the UN makes precious few cameos in Hollywood. So to right that wrong (and spice things up), today’s wrap-up of this year’s UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York features five quotes from the first feature film ever shot inside UN HQ, Nicole Kidman’s The Interpreter (2005).
- “The gunfire around us makes it hard to hear” — Russia-Ukraine
As ever, the challenge for Ukraine’s Zelensky is to keep Russia’s invasion in the global headlines, and he did that this year by tying Putin’s aggression to the world’s broader fears, including a) repeated Russian violations elsewhere, b) the weak responses from bodies like the UN, and c) the risks this in turn poses for everyone else.
His strategy was to frame Ukraine’s fate not as some distant dispute, but as a canary in a much broader coalmine that could harm us all unless we act.
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Interestingly, Zelensky also weighed in on what he described as “the most destructive arms race in human history“, a reference not just to drones, but also…
- “It’s why I came to the UN: quiet diplomacy” — Artificial intelligence
Dozens of speakers weighed in on AI, framing the debate along familiar fault-lines:
- i) progress vs peril (“innovation must serve humanity — not undermine it” 🇺🇳)
- ii) haves vs have-nots (“AI must stand for ‘Africa Included’” 🇳🇬), and
- iii) human vs AI control (“autonomous systems must never decide who lives” 🇪🇺)
But at least by UN standards, there was actually some progress this year, with the international community agreeing to launch a) a new scientific panel to help bridge AI’s tech↔policy gaps, and b) a new dialogue on AI governance to help bridge the haves↔have-nots gaps. Meanwhile, stark divisions were there for all to see, around…
- “Peace, security and freedom are not finite commodities like land, oil or gold” — Israel-Palestine
Per UN tradition, the opening speaker slot went to Brazil, whose President Lula paired condemnation of 2023’s “indefensible” Hamas attacks with increasingly sharp criticism of Israel’s response: “nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies the ongoing genocide in Gaza“.
Israel’s defiant Netanyahu, meanwhile, rejected claims of genocide (still before the International Court of Justice), instead insisting Israel “must finish the job” against Hamas. But fewer folks were listening by this point, because (as with almost all his UNGA addresses since 1998) delegates in the chamber staged a walk-out.
This year’s walkout, however, was among the largest in UN history, involving an estimated ~80 nations in scenes Iran’s supreme leader tweeted as evidence that “the evil Zionist regime is the most despised and isolated regime“.
As with any world leader, however, Bibi was speaking as much to a home audience as to anybody abroad: his domestic critics cite the walkout as proof Bibi is irreparably harming Israel. His supporters? They see it as more proof of Israel’s existential stakes.
But while Israeli-Palestinian topics dominated international headlines, the lowest-profile (yet widely cited) topic at this year’s UNGA might’ve been…
- “Even the lowest whisper can be heard… when it’s telling the truth” — Development
The UN’s Antonio Guterres opened UNGA 2025 with a warning that the world is only on track to hit ~a third of its Sustainable Development Goals by the 2030 deadline.
And while he and Brazil’s Lula contrasted that with today’s sharper security woes (“bombs and nuclear weapons will not protect us from the climate crisis“), many in the developing world — from Ghana to Barbados — highlighted another common thread: mounting debt.
And that actually brings us to a hopeful concluding note, because debt is an area where the UN has made a bit of progress this year: leaders used New York to take stock of ~130 practical initiatives the world adopted via July’s ‘Sevilla Commitment’.
Maybe it’s a reminder that the UN, for all its many faults, can still help get stuff done.
Intrigue’s Take
We promised five quotes from The Interpreter, so here’s your fifth, dear Intriguer:
- “While there are now 191 nations represented, 140 more than there were in 1945, you’ll only be required to learn the word ‘peace’ in the six languages spoken on the General Assembly floor.”
That quote — and the whole movie — takes us back to its release 20 years ago, when it reflected an idealism and moral authority still permeating the UN and its role in the world. And that, in turn, takes us to a bonus fifth topic that’s dominated discussions at the UN this past week during its 80th anniversary: UN reform.
Just about everyone flagged the need for UN reform — not just those it’ll benefit (under-represented giants like India), but also those it’ll dilute (like Security Council member the UK). Both share the view that the UN’s effectiveness is closely tied to its credibility, which only gets weaker as the gap between the UN’s 1945 structure and modernity gets wider.
And while it’s still mostly just reform rhetoric, it’s getting more specific, congealing around specific asks like expanding the Security Council, and saving permanent seats for Africa and small island developing states.
Anyway, in the meantime, the UN is still the place where the world goes to argue (and occasionally agree) on how not to blow itself up. And in today’s world, that’s probably enough to stop the UN credits from rolling just yet.