United Nations — Four candidates for the next UN Secretary-General will audition for the position this week, a much smaller number than was the case 10 years ago when António Guterres He was chosen as President of the United Nations.
Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet – one of two women and one of three from Latin America – will be the first to face ambassadors from the 193 UN member states during a three-hour question-and-answer session on Tuesday. Bachelet will report to UN Director-General of Nuclear Energy Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina.
On Wednesday, UN Trade Coordinator Rebecca Greenspan will take center stage in the General Assembly Hall, and finally, former Senegalese President Macky Sall.
In 2016, the hotly contested race attracted 13 candidates. What has changed?
For starters, the highly polarized and conflictual world of 2026 is very different from the more peaceful global climate of 2016, the year in which Donald Trump was first elected president.
Add to that – Decline in the standing of the United Nations. A decade ago, the world body was basking in its success in helping achieve the Paris climate agreement to limit global warming and world leaders agreeing on 17 goals to boost global economic growth, preserve the environment and bridge the growing gap between rich and poor countries.
Today, the divisions among global powers are so deep that the United Nations is unable to fulfill its essential role in ensuring global peace and security. The once-powerful Security Council has been prevented from taking action to stop the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran, among other conflicts, leaving the United Nations on the sidelines of major global crises.
The current geopolitical landscape has influenced the race to succeed Guterres, whose second five-year term ends on December 31, said Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group, a UN observer and program director.
He said that 10 years ago, many candidates entered the race knowing their chance of winning was slim, but used that to boost their image.
“There was no real cost associated with the loss,” Gowan said. (asterisk) This time, potential candidates and the governments that sponsor them are more cautious. “There is a feeling that if a candidate made a mistake and insulted Washington or Beijing, it could cause real diplomatic damage.”
In 2016, there was intense pressure to choose the first woman to lead the United Nations. Seven of the thirteen candidates were women. But there was widespread agreement that Guterres performed best in what the UN calls “interactive dialogue” with members of the General Assembly.
The UN Charter says little about this Selection of the Secretary-General However, the General Assembly, which includes all members, should do so on the recommendation of the Security Council. This gives the five permanent members of the UN’s most powerful body – the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France – a decision-making role and veto power over the selection.
It is customary for the Secretary-General to rotate by region. Guterres, the former Prime Minister of Portugal and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, representing Europe, was succeeded by former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who represented Asia. The Ghanaian came after Kofi Annan, who represented Africa.
Now, it must be Latin America’s turn, although Eastern Europe has never had a secretary-general, and lost in 2016.
Under UN rules, candidates must be nominated by a member state, not necessarily by their own. There is no time limit for nominations, and it is possible that more candidates will emerge, but in 2016 the Security Council began holding “informal polls” among the 13 candidates in late July, which essentially served as a final tally.
During their sessions this week, the four candidates will likely be asked about their vision for the job, global hotspots, and the future of the United Nations — but anything goes.
Bachelet(74 years old), who served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights after serving two non-consecutive terms as Chile’s president, was initially nominated by Chile, Brazil and Mexico. But after far-right leader José Antonio Caste became president in Chile in March, his government withdrew its support for Bachelet, a leftist, although she remained a candidate due to nominations from Brazil and Mexico.
Grossi(65 years old), a former Argentine diplomat who has been Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2019, and was nominated by his country.
Greenspan(70 years old), former Vice President of Costa Rica, has been Secretary-General of the United Nations Trade and Development Agency (UNCTAD) since 2021 and was also nominated by her country.
He asked, He was nominated by Burundi, No. 64, but his country Senegal informed the African Union that it did not support him. The divided 55-nation regional organization did not do so.
The Maldives nominated a fifth candidate, Argentine diplomat Virginia Gamba, former United Nations representative for children in armed conflict, but the Indian Ocean country withdrew its nomination in late March without giving reasons.
Although there are only two female candidates, pressure to appoint the woman Secretary-General continues, including from Guterres, who has sought to achieve gender equality in his administration. Britain and France also said they would like to see a woman head of government.
Global Advocacy Group 1 for 8 Billion And GWL Voices, an organization of nearly 80 global women leaders, campaigns on behalf of women. GWL’s president and co-founder, Susana Malcorra, a former Argentine Foreign Minister and senior UN official, was a candidate for Secretary-General in 2016.
In a March 25 letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 28 Republican senators and House members asked the United States to veto Bachelet, describing her as “a pro-abortion fanatic bent on using political power to override state sovereignty in favor of extremist agendas.”
Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, was asked at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last week by Republican Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska — one of the letter’s signatories — about Bachelet’s fitness for the job. Waltz responded that he was not in a position to say whether the United States would support or oppose it, but said: “I share your concerns.”
Joan said the odds of choosing a woman changed sharply when Trump returned to the White House.
“Before that, there was a feeling that this time a woman should win, but now many diplomats assume that Washington will insist on a male secretary-general on principle,” he said. “I’m not sure that’s necessarily true.”