Who Will Next Lead the United Nations?

Replacing Guterres

It is time to choose who will next lead the United Nations. On Tuesday and Wednesday, four candidates vying to succeed U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres will be grilled on several pressing global issues, from ongoing conflicts to climate change, as well as on how they envision reshaping the organization’s mandate.

“In a nutshell, this is one of the toughest jobs in the world,” said Annalena Baerbock, the president of the U.N. General Assembly. “But it is also one of the most important, as the next secretary-general will not only shape the future of this institution but, in her or his role as the strongest defender of the U.N. Charter, also that of the international rules-based order.”

The current front-runner is Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). With a reputation for being a man of action, the former Argentine diplomat is known for his shuttle diplomacy in the Russia-Ukraine and Iran wars. Among his most notable achievements, Grossi stationed an IAEA team at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in September 2022, and he has engaged in nuclear talks with Tehran in recent months, though some critics have argued that Grossi has been too soft on Iran’s uranium enrichment ambitions.

Grossi will be questioned on Tuesday alongside Michelle Bachelet, who if chosen would become the first woman to lead the United Nations. Bachelet has an extensive résumé; she held two terms as the president of Chile, served as the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, and acted as the executive director of U.N. Women.

However, Bachelet’s progressive policies have made her a controversial candidate. In March, the far-right government of Chilean President José Antonio Kast withdrew its support for Bachelet, though she retained the backing of Brazil and Mexico. That same month, 28 U.S. Republican lawmakers asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to veto Bachelet, calling her a “pro-abortion zealot intent on using political authority to override state sovereignty in favor of extreme agendas.” She has also faced criticism for downplaying China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims, which experts have called a genocide.

The other female candidate in the running is Rebeca Grynspan, a former vice president of Costa Rica and the head of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development. As an economist, Grynspan has advocated for gender equality, human rights, peace, and development. She will face live questioning on Wednesday alongside former Senegalese President Macky Sall.

Sall, if chosen, would be the U.N.’s third African secretary-general. During his tenure as Senegal’s president, Sall oversaw the completion of major infrastructure projects, championed African development, and argued that the U.N. Security Council should give developing countries a permanent seat. At the same time, though, he has been accused of orchestrating a “constitutional coup” in 2024 after he postponed elections to extend his presidential term.

This year’s pool of just four candidates is drastically smaller than the United Nations’ last round in 2016, when 13 individuals sought the top spot, though three of these candidates withdrew before the final vote. Some analysts point to increasing global fragmentation and the U.N.’s diminished status as reasons for this.

In the coming weeks, the U.N. Security Council will give the General Assembly its recommendation for who should become the next secretary-general. Many foreign leaders, including Guterres, have pushed for a woman to be chosen, though some experts fear that the Trump administration may use its Security Council veto power to prevent Bachelet or Grynspan from taking office. The next U.N. chief will start his or her five-year term on Jan. 1, 2027.

World’s Toughest Job, a new podcast from Foreign Policy and the U.N. Foundation, explores what kind of leader the world body needs at this precarious moment and how the next secretary-general will be chosen. Watch the trailer.

Today’s Most Read

What We’re Following

TACO Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he will extend the United States’ two-week cease-fire with Iran indefinitely, just hours before it was set to expire on Wednesday. This is an apparent reversal of Trump’s earlier threats, such as when he told CNBC that the U.S. military is “raring to go” should a second round of peace talks in Islamabad fail.

It remains unclear whether the peace talks will occur. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, who heads the U.S. delegation, was supposed to leave Washington on Tuesday morning to travel to Islamabad; however, the New York Times reported on Tuesday afternoon that his departure had been put on hold. Meanwhile, Tehran has not publicly confirmed its participation, with lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf writing on X on Monday that Iran will not attend talks under “the shadow of threats.”

These “threats” may include the U.S. military’s seizure of an oil tanker carrying Iranian crude in international waters overnight on Tuesday. According to the U.S. Defense Department, the Tifani was believed to be smuggling Iranian crude to Southeast Asia when it was boarded while passing through the Bay of Bengal. Trump on Tuesday said that the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports will continue.

Defense policy overhaul. Japan scrapped a ban on overseas lethal arms sales on Tuesday in the country’s biggest overhaul of defense export rules in decades. The move—which will pave the way for Tokyo to sell warships, fighter jets, and missiles—marks a massive pivot for Japan’s postwar pacifist policy, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi seeks to counter growing security threats in the Indo-Pacific.

Japan’s post-World War II constitution prohibits most arms exports apart from those related to rescue, transport, alert, surveillance, and minesweeping. However, in recent months, Takaichi has pushed for Tokyo to bolster its military capabilities after she characterized a potential future Chinese attack on Taiwan as a “survival-threatening” situation that could permit Japan to take military action.

“In an increasingly severe security environment, no single country can now protect its own peace and security alone, and partner countries that support each other in terms of defense equipment are necessary,” Takaichi wrote on X.

Tuesday’s export overhaul will be limited to 17 countries that have already signed defense equipment and technology transfer agreements with Japan. In principle, Tokyo will not export lethal weapons to nations currently at war.

Arson attacks on Jewish sites. British police announced on Tuesday that they have arrested eight people suspected of being linked to a series of arson attacks in London in recent days, including an alleged plot against Jewish sites. Also on Tuesday, a British teenager pleaded guilty to an arson attack on Kenton United Synagogue, a Jewish place of worship. All of the arrests are part of a larger British counterterrorism operation investigating rising antisemitism in the United Kingdom.

Global incidents of antisemitism have risen drastically since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October 2023. Last month, four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity in London were set on fire. Since then, several arson attacks across the country have targeted Jewish- or Israel-linked sites as well as one Persian media outlet that was critical of Tehran.

“One of our key lines of inquiry is whether criminal proxies—that is to say, people being paid money to carry out a crime—are being used,” said Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator of London’s police counterterrorism force. Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, an Iranian proxy group, has claimed responsibility for several of these assaults.

Odds and Ends

Japan’s Punch is not the only monkey loving his plushies. Yuji, a 6-week-old patas monkey in Mexico’s Guadalajara Zoo, also wakes up every morning clinging to a stuffed toy. Like Japan’s snow monkey, who went viral earlier this year for having his own emotional support animal, Yuji too found comfort in a children’s toy after his mother rejected him. Zookeepers are optimistic that Yuji’s stuffed dog will help him socialize; last Friday, Japan’s Ichikawa City Zoo revealed that Punch rarely relies on his plushie these days—and may even have a girlfriend!