FP This Week: What Washington wants from the United Nations

Plus: Two years of Ones & Tooze and the dilemmas of deterring China. SEPTEMBER 19, 2023  |  [VIEW IN BROWSER](  |  [SUBSCRIBE](     U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres speaks at the United Nations in New York on Sept. 18. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images Nineteen months on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations continues to struggle with Moscow’s presence as a permanent member of the Security Council. As the General Assembly kicks off this week in New York, the question looming is whether the U.N. is paralyzed or if it can still bring nations together to advance policy. FP’s Ravi Agrawal put exactly this to Linda Thomas-Greenfield on FP Live last Friday. [Find out]( what the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations thinks about the current state of the organization—and learn Washington’s No. 1 priority for this General Assembly. Watch the interview [on demand](, and afterward, read more about all the perks of belonging to [Insider](, our highest membership tier. FP’s own convenings in New York start today. There’s a full [agenda]( of briefings and forums on issues including the global energy transition, food security and sustainability, pandemic preparedness, universal health coverage, and the implications of digital transformation across the world. Last-minute speaker additions include U.S. Agriculture Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack at tomorrow’s [Food+ Forum]( and COP28 Director-General Majid al-Suwaidi at the [FP Energy Forum]( on Thursday. Join us to close out the week with a [live taping]( of FP’s Global Reboot podcast, featuring an interview with Kelly T. Clements, the U.N. deputy high commissioner for refugees. And for more on all things United Nations, check out FP’s [guide]( to what to expect at UNGA, watch an FP Live [interview]( with U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power on her agency’s priorities for the General Assembly, and don’t forget to dive into our [current print issue](. If multilateralism is dead, we asked, what are the alliances that matter now? Consider it counter-programming for the busy days ahead.—The Editors   New and Noteworthy - Putin-Kim Summit: Last week’s meeting between the leaders of Russia and North Korea showcased just how transactional the nations’ relationship has become, Ankit Panda [argues](. “Unlike typical leader-level summitry, the two chose not to issue any kind of joint statement hinting at what they may have discussed or agreed to,” Panda writes. “The optics of their meeting, however, along with other recent high-level diplomatic engagements between the two countries, were much more overt.” Interested in this topic? Add North Korea to your [My FP]( profile. - Two Years of Ones & Tooze: On the latest episode of [Ones & Tooze](, FP columnist Adam Tooze and deputy editor Cameron Abadi toast two years of analyzing the global economy. To celebrate the occasion, Adam tackles [listeners’ questions]( on China, discussing the risk of Beijing going on the offensive economically, the legacy of communism, U.S.-China commercial relations, and more. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts, and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss Part 2 this Friday. - The End of America’s Middle East: In his latest for Foreign Policy, Hisham Melhem [argues]( that “America’s four traditional pillars in the Middle East are now too brittle to be relied upon.” The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, and Egypt have been “disregarding Washington’s core interests” and “believe that closer political, economic, and military relations with Russia, China, India, or each other—openly or clandestinely—will provide them with suitable alternatives to the United States.” Dive into Melhem’s [article]( for suggestions on how the United States should reassess its relations with the region’s four major powers.   The World in Your Inbox In addition to FP’s daily [World Brief]( newsletter, you can sign up to receive weekly digests of headlines and developing stories from experts around the globe. Here are the latest updates from FP’s regional briefs: China Brief: A U.K. parliamentary aide is arrested on suspicion of spying for China, China’s defense minister is missing from public, Beijing plans an iPhone ban across government bodies and other state organizations, and more. [Read the latest edition.]( South Asia Brief: The Maldives prepares for a presidential runoff with consequences for great-power competition, former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could return from self-exile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrapped up a rocky trip to New Delhi, and more. [Read the latest edition.]( Africa Brief: Gabon’s palace coup is starkly different from Niger’s, Morocco is slow to accept aid offers after devastating earthquake, a deadly drone strike in Sudan’s capital, Ivory Coast seeks to renegotiate price of ethical chocolate with the EU, and more. [Read the latest edition.]( Latin America Brief: Chile revisits its 1973 coup, feminists celebrate a major Mexican court ruling on abortion rights, and Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro gets cozy with a cautious China. [Read the latest edition.](   FROM FP STUDIOS [They Made History. Now Hear How It Happened.]( The Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. U.S. soccer negotiations for gender parity. How Kofi Annan mediated a political crisis in Kenya. Season 3 of [The Negotiators](, a production from Doha Debates and Foreign Policy, is out now, with all new stories from people resolving some of the world’s most dramatic conflicts. Follow and listen wherever you get your podcasts.           Exercise Your Mind Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court on Thursday handed down a sentence of how many years to a supporter of former President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed the capital in January? - 5 - 17 - 25 - 40 You can find the answer to this question and learn more at the end of this email.   Expert voices, intelligent analysis. [Get FP access today](.   The Dilemmas of Deterrence A view from the cockpit shows a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown, Australia, to Darwin at sunset on July 12. Zuri Linetsky for Foreign Policy This summer, Zuri Linetsky, a research fellow at the Eurasia Group Foundation, [embedded]( for a week with a Marine Corps F-35C squadron nicknamed the “Black Knights” in the Pacific to get a firsthand look at the United States’ strategy to avoid a military conflict with China. Flying over the Australian Outback at night in a U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J aerial refueler, the scene outside the cockpit is a featureless sea of black. The instrument panels are backlit in neon green. The radio crackles in my ear over the baritone drone of the aircraft’s four propellers. Lt. Col. Courtney O’Brien (call sign Britney) alerts me to two fighter planes approaching from the rear. The KC-130J deploys fuel lines from tanks on both wings as incoming Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II fighter jets extend their fuel probes to begin aerial refueling. I watch as digital displays on five fuel gauges slowly tick down from 50,000 pounds to just under 20,000. As the F-35C’s disconnect and drop away, a core challenge to U.S. strategic objectives across the Pacific theater comes into focus. To operate across this vast region and prepare for a potential conflict with near-peer competitors, the U.S. military needs shrewd solutions for complex logistical puzzles of time and distance… [Read]( the full report from Linetsky’s trip. Also: Don’t miss the [latest]( from FP’s Jack Destch on China’s efforts to provoke and harass smaller nations out of the South China Sea.   Most Popular on FP [Supporters of opposition politicians stage an anti-government demonstration in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo on May 25. ]( [Washington Must Not Allow Another Stolen Election in Congo]( Fear of Chinese influence must not take precedence over protecting democracy. By Stephen R. Weissman, Anthony Gambino [A mural depicting Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s first supreme leader after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, is pictured as women walk along Enghelab Square in central Tehran on Sept. 10.]( [Why Did Last Year’s Protest Movement in Iran Fail?]( The Supreme Leader learned what not to do from the Shah. By Emily Blout, Sina Azodi [Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi walks outside the venue for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation near Yanqi Lake, north of Beijing, on May 15, 2017. ]( [The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy]( Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish. By Cindy Yu [Supporters of the AfD party, Free Saxons movement, and other groups demonstrate against high energy prices, German support for Ukraine, and other government policies in Chemnitz, Germany, on Nov. 28, 2022.]( [Why Does Eastern Germany Love Putin So Much?]( Russian disinformation has bewitched the far right and the far left. By Jens Kastner, Jack Hewson [Viet Cong soldiers go into battle near Hue, in central Vietnam, during the Vietnam War, circa 1968. ]( [The Ghostly Legacies of America’s War in Vietnam]( The United States tried to use Vietnamese beliefs to terrify enemy soldiers. By Chris Humphrey [Washington Must Not Allow Another Stolen Election in Congo]( Fear of Chinese influence must not take precedence over protecting democracy. By Stephen R. Weissman, Anthony Gambino [Why Did Last Year’s Protest Movement in Iran Fail?](The Supreme Leader learned what not to do from the Shah. By Emily Blout, Sina Azodi [The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy](Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish. By Cindy Yu [Why Does Eastern Germany Love Putin So Much?](Russian disinformation has bewitched the far right and the far left. By Jens Kastner, Jack Hewson [The Ghostly Legacies of America’s War in Vietnam](The United States tried to use Vietnamese beliefs to terrify enemy soldiers. By Chris Humphrey   From Around FP - Safeguarding American Democracy: What does the United States need to do to safeguard its democracy? Historian Heather Cox Richardson has long grappled with questions of how democracy has weakened in America and how its citizenry can try to take back control. That topic is the focus of her new book, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America. She’ll discuss it with FP’s Ravi Agrawal in an FP Live interview on Sept. 26. [Register here.]( - Save the Date for Her Power: At the 2023 Her Power Summit, women’s rights are the agenda. Our fifth-annual event in Washington on Oct. 25 will show women challenging norms, reforming institutions, and leveraging technology to elevate marginalized voices and reimagine international cooperation. [Register now]( to join this pivotal dialogue on the future of women’s rights across sectors. Her Power offers many exciting opportunities for organizations to partner with FP. To amplify your mission and support this crucial conversation, contact FP’s Diana Marrero at diana.marrero@foreignpolicy.com. Are you interested in learning more about FP Analytics’ cutting-edge research services, hosting an FP event, or building a podcast with FP Studios? [Explore partnership opportunities](. Answer: B. 17 years. The Supreme Federal Court will try nearly 1,400 alleged participants of the attempted insurrection on Jan. 8, FP’s Alexandra Sharp [reports](. Take the rest of our weekly [news quiz](. foreignpolicy.com/subscribe Geopolitics matters [Get a closer look at the big picture. 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