Overview of a U.N. Security Council meeting devoted to the situation in Iran, at United Nations headquarters in New York, on Jan. 15, 2026. (Credit: Angela Weiss/AFP)
As the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on Sept. 8, with the general debate to be held from Sept. 22 to 28, Hervé Verhoosel, former senior communications official and spokesperson for the United Nations, analyzes the effects of the U.N. system’s lack of reform, of which Washington’s unilateralism is today one of the most revealing symptoms.Hervé Verhoosel is a former senior communications official and spokesperson for the United Nations. He spent nearly 20 years in the multilateral system, notably in Geneva, New York, and Africa. He now writes and advises on international affairs, strategic communications, and the evolution of diplomatic practice.I spent nearly twenty years inside the United Nations system, moving between Geneva, Africa, and New York. I watched things work. I also watched things stall for far...
As the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on Sept. 8, with the general debate to be held from Sept. 22 to 28, Hervé Verhoosel, former senior communications official and spokesperson for the United Nations, analyzes the effects of the U.N. system’s lack of reform, of which Washington’s unilateralism is today one of the most revealing symptoms.Hervé Verhoosel is a former senior communications official and spokesperson for the United Nations. He spent nearly 20 years in the multilateral system, notably in Geneva, New York, and Africa. He now writes and advises on international affairs, strategic communications, and the evolution of diplomatic practice.I spent nearly twenty years inside the United Nations system, moving between Geneva, Africa, and New York. I watched things work. I also watched things stall for...