UN Secretary General: Who gets it? "most impossible job in the world"?

“It’s the most impossible job in the world” – with this not really motivating sentence he had the first ever Secretary General of the UN, Trygve Lie, once welcomed his successor. This statement has changed little even more than 80 years after the founding of the United Nations:

The boss (there has never been one before) at the top of the world authority has to balance interests that cannot be balanced: power blocs that are blocking each other – it used to be the USA against the USSR, today the USA and Israel almost always face China and Russia. The UN cannot end wars, and it is not even possible to secure long-term peace once the weapons are silent. Say:

The UN Secretary General has no power, but is at the head of an institution that, with many sub-organizations, fights on a practical level against poverty, for climate protection and for global rules.

So who wants this job right now? UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres fills in? The former Prime Minister of Portugal has been at the head of the UN since 2017. He is heavily criticized by Israel and the USA after he repeatedly criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza. Guterres caused particular outrage in Israel when he said after the Hamas terror attack on October 7, when more than 1,200 Israelis were killed, that this terrorist attack “did not occur in a vacuum.”

The future person at the head of the UN will need the approval of all power blocs – which means that he was not allowed to offend any side from the outset:

For Michelle Bachelet that doesn’t apply. The former President of Chile (74), who later became UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, greatly outraged the People’s Republic of China. On the last day of her term in office, she had an extremely critical report published on the situation of the Uighurs in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. Beijing reacted very snidely and still resents her to this day. The USA is also unlikely to be happy with the socialist ex-politician. And its new head of state, the ultra-conservative President Jose Antonio Kast, has now even withdrawn her nomination for the UN chief post. But Bachelet continues to enjoy the support of Mexico and Brazil, which also nominated her – and that is why Chile’s ex-president remains in the race for the UN chief post.

The most promising candidate is the Argentine anyway Rafael Grossi (65) – no stranger to Vienna.

He heads the UN Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has its headquarters in the Austrian capital. Grossi has been leading the authority successfully for six years – but that could now become a problem; conflicts of interest are once again emerging: in the conflict over the nuclear facilities in Iran or in the embattled Ukrainian city with Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, he can hardly say anything that would not displease one of the veto powers. On the other hand, as head of a UN organization, the Argentine constantly travels around the world at UN expense, meets presidents and ministers and can thus promote himself at the highest levels.

The chances of… should not be underestimated Rebecca Grynspan, the former Vice President of Costa Rica and current Secretary General of the UN agency UNCTAD.

The 70-year-old economist is not only considered one of Latin America’s leading intellectuals, she is also said to have great political skill. Thanks to their mediation, for example, a grain agreement was reached between Russia and Ukraine, which eased the food situation worldwide after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

And finally, run for office Macky Sallhe was the president of Senegal for twelve years.

The 64-year-old former head of state was nominated by Burundi. He wants to bring the UN closer to reforms and also give the Global South greater representation. The fact that he has no harsh critics around the world suggests that he ultimately has a good chance of winning the “most impossible job in the world.”

From the middle onwards, the candidates will give their first rounds of introductions and dialogue, which will be broadcast via live stream. The Security Council then discusses and agrees on a person – who then has to be officially approved by the General Assembly by vote. The new boss, or perhaps a female boss for the first time, is expected to be chosen in the fall.