In world beset by turbulence, nations’ leaders gather at UN

Facing a complex set of challenges that try humanity as never before, world leaders convene at the United Nations this week under the shadow of Europe’s first major war since World War II – a conflict that has unleashed a global food crisis and divided major powers in a way not seen since the Cold War.

The many facets of the Ukraine war are expected to dominate the annual meeting, which convenes as many countries and peoples confront growing inequality, an escalating climate crisis, the threat of multiple famines and an internet-fuelled tide of misinformation and hate speech – all atop a coronavirus pandemic that is halfway through its third year.

For the first time since the United Nations was founded atop the ashes of World War II, European nations are witnessing war in their midst waged by nuclear-armed neighbouring Russia.

Its February 24 invasion not only threatens Ukraine’s survival as an independent democratic nation but has leaders in many countries worrying about trying to preserve regional and international peace and prevent a wider war.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the strategic divides – with the West on one side and Russia and increasingly China on the other – are “paralysing the global response to the dramatic challenges we face”.

He pointed not only to the devastation in Ukraine from nearly seven months of fighting but the war’s impact on the global economy.