The UN Secretary General presented this Thursday the ‘New Peace Agenda’, a document that proposes measures to resolve and prevent conflicts in a world that lives “at a crossroads”, in full transition towards a world order yet to be determined. .
“We are now at a turning point. The post-Cold War period is over,” highlights António Guterres in the document, which foresees a multipolar system, but “whose contours have not yet been defined.”
According to Guterres, “in this moment of transition, power dynamics have become increasingly fragmented as new poles of influence emerge, new economic blocs are formed, and axes of dispute are redefined.”
“There is increased competition between the great powers and a loss of trust between the Global North and the Global South. Different states are increasingly trying to reinforce their strategic independence, while at the same time trying to circumvent existing dividing lines, ”he stressed.
In this context, warns the Portuguese diplomat, greater “geostrategic competition is expected in the coming decades”, with more conflicts, new military spending records and an erosion of the arms control and crisis management agreements that helped maintain the stability in the past.
“Its deterioration, whether on a global or regional scale, has increased the possibility of dangerous confrontations, miscalculations and escalation spirals. The nuclear conflict has returned to form part of the public discourse”, can be read in the document.
Added to these circumstances is the threat of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and its possible use in the military field, he stresses.
In response, Guterres proposes strengthening conflict prevention as the first pillar of his strategy, with more investment in combating situations that generate insecurity and in identifying possible situations of tension as soon as possible.
The UN leader also advocates strengthening UN peacekeeping operations and its cooperation with other organizations to deploy such forces.
It also calls for improving the international architecture, beginning with a reform of the Security Council that facilitates the achievement of consensus and more democratic decisions.
Meanwhile, Guterres considers it essential to establish mechanisms to protect cyberspace, prohibit autonomous weapons systems or negotiate rules to avoid an arms race in outer space.
Their proposals were sent this Thursday to the member states, who plan to analyze them in the coming months.
The UN, according to organization sources, hopes that some of the elements will be included in the Pact for the Future, which the countries hope to approve at a summit in September 2024.
Source: TSF
