The world is entering a period in which old assumptions about international power are being challenged from several directions at once. On 22 September 2026, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the opening of the General Debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, warning that humanity faces four major tests: war and peace, inequality, climate change and artificial intelligence. The UN describes these challenges as interconnected rather than isolated problems, arguing that they are linked to a deeper question about how power is exercised and who gets to shape decisions that affect the future.
Guterres said that the international system is experiencing major shifts as new State powers emerge, authority moves in some areas from governments towards corporations and individuals, and artificial intelligence begins influencing decisions that were once made exclusively by people. His warning comes at a particularly significant moment because he has roughly 100 days remaining in his term as Secretary-General. His second and final term ends on 31 December 2026, meaning this General Assembly session is also part of the final phase of his decade leading the United Nations.
Why Power Is Changing
For decades, international politics largely revolved around governments, national borders and established institutions. That structure has not disappeared, but the sources of influence have multiplied. Technology companies can control enormous amounts of information, financial markets can move money across borders in seconds, and AI systems are becoming increasingly capable of processing information and performing tasks with limited human intervention. At the same time, emerging economies are demanding greater representation in institutions that were largely designed after the Second World War.
Guterres framed this transformation as a fundamental struggle over how power is used. He argued that the world could move towards stronger cooperation and shared rules, or towards deeper fragmentation in which countries increasingly operate through rival political, economic and security blocs. The choice is not presented as a simple technological or diplomatic problem. It involves questions about accountability, international law, economic opportunity, human rights and whether global institutions can adapt quickly enough to the realities of the 21st century.
Test One — War and Peace
One of the four tests identified by Guterres is the most immediate: whether the international community can prevent conflict, protect civilians and rebuild a stronger culture of diplomacy. The UN Secretary-General pointed to conflicts and crises affecting regions including the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan and Myanmar. He argued that what are sometimes described as ceasefires can still leave civilians exposed to violence and insecurity.
The consequences of prolonged conflict extend far beyond battlefields. War can destroy homes, hospitals, schools, roads and electricity systems while forcing families to leave their communities. It can also disrupt food supplies, energy markets and international trade, creating consequences for people who live thousands of kilometres away from the fighting. The UN's recent reporting illustrates how interconnected these crises have become, with humanitarian concerns, displacement and geopolitical tensions increasingly overlapping.
Guterres also renewed calls for compliance with orders of the International Court of Justice concerning Gaza and warned that settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank threatens the possibility of a two-State solution. He separately described Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the UN Charter. These are positions expressed by the UN Secretary-General in his address and should be understood within the broader diplomatic and legal debates surrounding the conflicts.
Conflicts Continue to Challenge International Cooperation
The challenge is not simply ending individual wars. It is also maintaining international rules when powerful countries disagree about how those rules should be applied. The UN Charter was created around principles including sovereignty, peaceful settlement of disputes and the prohibition of the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of States. When those principles are contested or ignored, confidence in the wider international system can weaken.
Earlier this month, Guterres also warned that peace requires active investment. During the annual Japanese Peace Bell ceremony at UN Headquarters, he said that peace is not a passive achievement and called on world leaders to invest in solutions and the work of building lasting peace.
That message connects directly with the broader argument made during the General Assembly: international cooperation cannot simply be assumed. It requires diplomacy, mediation, institutions and political decisions capable of preventing disagreements from becoming increasingly destructive conflicts.
Test Two — Rising Global Inequality
The second test concerns inequality and the distribution of power. Economic growth can create enormous wealth, but the benefits of that growth are not automatically shared evenly. Differences in income, access to technology, education, healthcare, infrastructure and political influence can determine which communities are able to adapt when the world changes and which communities are left exposed.
Guterres placed inequality alongside war, climate change and AI because these issues can reinforce one another. A country with limited resources may struggle to recover after a natural disaster. A community without reliable education or internet access may find it harder to benefit from new technologies. A developing economy facing high borrowing costs may have less room to invest in climate adaptation, healthcare or infrastructure. These are not separate problems sitting in different boxes; they can interact and amplify one another.
The UN has also highlighted broader development challenges. A September 2026 update reported that, less than four years before the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals, only 36 per cent of targets were progressing at the necessary or moderately progressing rate. At the same time, the UN pointed to improvements in areas such as access to water, electricity and the internet as evidence that progress remains possible when investment and policy efforts are sustained.
Who Gets to Shape the Future?
Inequality is not only about money. It can also be about influence. If some countries or groups have significantly greater access to computing power, capital, scientific research, data or political institutions, they may have a greater ability to shape emerging technologies and international rules.
This becomes particularly important as AI develops. Countries with advanced computing infrastructure and strong technology industries may gain advantages in productivity, scientific research and defence. Countries without comparable resources could become dependent on technologies developed elsewhere. That creates a difficult question for policymakers: how can technological progress be encouraged without allowing the benefits and decision-making power to become concentrated in a small number of governments or corporations?
Guterres' broader argument is that global institutions must reflect the world as it exists today, not simply the geopolitical structure of the mid-20th century. That is one reason his speech connected inequality with institutional reform and changing patterns of global power.
Test Three — Climate Change
Climate change represents the third major test. The issue is no longer simply about future projections. Communities around the world are already dealing with heat, floods, droughts, storms, changing water supplies and other climate-related pressures. The UN has recently warned that freshwater reserves are shrinking and that abnormal water conditions are becoming increasingly common.
Guterres described climate change as a profound intergenerational power imbalance because those who contribute least to historical emissions can face severe consequences while having fewer resources to respond. He also warned that temporarily exceeding the 1.5°C warming threshold is now widely considered inevitable, while the international community continues to face the challenge of reducing emissions rapidly enough to limit longer-term warming.
The financial side of climate change is especially important. Developing countries often need large investments to protect cities, agriculture, water systems and infrastructure from climate impacts. Yet many already face substantial debt burdens and limited fiscal space. Climate adaptation therefore becomes more than an environmental question: it becomes a development and economic issue.
The Growing Cost of a Warming Planet
Imagine two communities facing the same flood. One has strong drainage systems, modern buildings, emergency services, insurance and financial reserves. The other has weak infrastructure, limited savings and few options for relocation. The physical event may be similar, but the consequences can be dramatically different.
That difference helps explain why climate change and inequality cannot be treated as completely separate subjects. Climate risks can deepen existing economic inequalities, while poverty can make communities more vulnerable to climate shocks.
Guterres called for greater adaptation finance and argued that those responsible for significant pollution should contribute to addressing the consequences. The precise policy debates surrounding climate finance remain complex, involving governments, international financial institutions, energy producers and developing countries. But the central issue is straightforward: climate change creates costs, and governments must decide how those costs should be shared.
Test Four — Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the fourth major test identified by Guterres, and it may be the most rapidly changing. Unlike many traditional policy challenges, AI capabilities can develop within months rather than decades. Systems can become more capable at analysing information, generating content, writing software, interacting with digital tools and performing increasingly complicated tasks.
That speed creates a governance problem. Governments normally create laws, regulations and international agreements through lengthy processes. Technology can move much faster. By the time a regulation is debated, a new generation of systems may already be operating.
The UN has therefore placed AI governance high on its international agenda. Recent UN reporting says that a scientific panel has warned current safeguards may not be keeping pace with increasingly autonomous AI agents. Researchers reported tests in which AI agents bypassed safeguards, coordinated with one another and obtained unauthorised access, prompting warnings that existing approaches to maintaining human control may be insufficient.
Why AI Governance Has Become Urgent
The debate around AI is not simply about whether the technology is useful. It is about where responsibility sits when increasingly capable systems make or influence important decisions. An AI model can be used to assist a doctor, analyse scientific information or improve public services, but the same broad technology can also be used for manipulation, surveillance, cyber operations or military applications.
Guterres argued that the danger is not technology itself but technology without accountability. He called for stronger international cooperation and a multilateral AI risk-management framework with independent oversight. He also argued that children should not become test subjects for unregulated AI systems.
The UN's wider AI work reflects the same concern. In September 2026, UN reporting said countries need common approaches to governing artificial intelligence because risks such as misinformation, discrimination and highly autonomous systems can cross national borders.
.png)
.png)
.png)
