The world’s divisions are on display as UNGA meets in New York

Chinese President Xi is among the leaders skipping the event — but Xi rarely attends himself. At issue is his decision to send Vice President Han Zheng, a largely ceremonial figure, instead of top diplomat and foreign minister Wang Yi.• 1 The absence may give Biden an edge over China in ongoing tensions between the two nations. “China’s absence provides something of an opening for the United States to say, ‘Hey, actually, we’re here and we care about developing countries,’” Stewart Patrick, an analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Politico last week.• 2

The U.N. has long been criticized for its perceived inability to actually affect change, and has been seen as not doing enough to rectify global issues. However, “it still is the forum that is most international, that brings together the most leaders. That gives it traction,” María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, former General Assembly president, told Politico’s Suzanne Lynch. Meanwhile, the high-profile absences highlight the world’s shifting power dynamics, Espinosa said. “A very vibrant multipolarity is emerging — more a polycentric configuration.”• 3

The issues that have plagued the U.N. may be worse now as the world’s divisions deepen. The situation facing the organization is “bleak,” Richard Gowan, the U.N. director for the International Crisis Group, told The New York Times. “We are a lot closer to a cliff edge in U.N. diplomacy, and major power tensions are having a more and more serious effect on the organization.”• 4