Back in top form, the UN General Assembly demonstrates the value of face-to-face diplomacy

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — There are two opposing visions of the United Nations General Assembly: it is a place that demonstrates the true power of words, where leaders inspire action with passionate speeches on the pressing issues of our time; or it is a showcase of hot air, where leaders speak to their audiences at home with political rhetoric about the topic of the day.

These competing positions were put to the test when the coronavirus pandemic disrupted in-person diplomacy for several years. After years of first virtual and then hybrid general debates, the dozens of world leaders who attended the annual summit this week made visible the return of first-person diplomacy and gave ammunition to those who defend its importance.

It wasn’t just the dramatic moments, like when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was to address the Security Council in the presence of Russia’s top diplomat. Ultimately, their paths did not cross.

Many of the formal speeches given before the green stone of the General Assembly could have been given before a camera, with few people in the room (and that was the case in 2020). More than the speeches, the heart of the annual meetings are the personal interactions between leaders. And of equal importance to the day-to-day relations between countries are the personal interactions between lower-level staff, visible this year as diplomatic delegations and non-governmental organizations filled UN headquarters and nearby hotels and meeting spaces.

Diplomatic agreements put together in informal interactions have been key to achieving achievements that were not formally presented in the founding document of the United Nations. This is the case of peace interventions in recent years or decolonization decades ago, said Katie Laatikainen, professor of political science and international relations at Adelphi University.

Much of the world views the General Assembly as a global governing body, he noted, and ignores the less flashy work it has promoted in behind-the-scenes interactions.

“People expect governance, but that’s not really what the UN does,” he explained. The General Assembly, she noted, actually “overshadows what the UN does well.”

Parallel meetings were held throughout the week on topics such as conservation and peace in the Middle East. Personal relationships are just as important, if not more, for non-governmental organizations interested in the outcome of these processes, according to attendees at the event.

The Waitt Institute, based in La Jolla, California, works on ocean conservation and during the pandemic “we were all on Zoom, of course (…) it actually played a hugely important role” in communicating with the small island nations where Waitt does a lot of his own work, explained CEO Kathryn Mengerink.

However, real life is not “how we interact when we are in a box on a screen,” he said from Midtown Manhattan, where he was participating in that in-person communication that he described as essential to his group’s work.

Scott Hamilton, a former U.S. State Department official who has worked in Cuba, among other places, described how the pandemic had weakened diplomacy because “face-to-face you can inspire trust and closeness between people.”

Despite the increase in attendance, this year’s event had some notable absences. Except for the president of the United States, Joe Biden, the other four permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the leaders of China, France, Russia and Great Britain – did not attend.

United Nations officials say it is a mistake to confuse in-person attendance, especially by heads of government, with a referendum on the importance of the meeting.

“We are very aware that heads of state face simultaneous demands, internal demands,” said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres. “So we don’t take it personally.”

Even without a president or prime minister in town, delegations continue to work, and personal contact helps set the agenda for the following year.

“Real hard work is what happens the rest of the year,” Laatikainen said.

Many in the General Assembly, as well as those who followed closely from afar, declined to comment on the substance of negotiations that might not be successful. But they said the 2023 summit underscored how essential it is to meet in person again, something that offers an invaluable way to interact that is more confidential and efficient than virtual communications.

“Technology offers a vehicle for those (interactions) without personal contact, but it is inferior to personal contact,” said Jeff Rathke, president of the German-American Institute at Johns Hopkins University and a retired State Department fellow who worked primarily on relations between the United States and Europe.

But General Assembly week, Rathke noted, “provides a critical mass that allows you to do all the things you would prefer to do in person.”

“You can switch roles and have video calls all day,” Hamilton agreed. “But it’s about doing what diplomats are supposed to do: It’s easy to understand people’s positions by swapping roles, but it’s more important to understand people’s interests.”

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Michael Weissenstein, editor of The Associated Press in New York, is an experienced correspondent who has been stationed in Cuba, Britain and Mexico.