Can the UN survive what comes next?

US President Trump speaks at the 81st United Nations General Assembly Credit: United Nations

“To the victor belong the spoils,” US President Donald Trump declared before the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. Trump was talking about the massive oil deal the US struck with Venezuela this year following the ouster of strongman Nicolás Maduro. But the message – and the very Trumpian approach to geopolitics behind it – was clear: the winner takes all.

It was a striking message to deliver at the world’s largest multilateral organization. Minutes earlier, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, whose term ends in December, had made the opposite case. “The greatest power is not the power to dominate,” Guterres said. “It is the power to build a future that works for everyone.” Read more