The United Nations has never appointed a woman Secretary-General. Four experienced women are now in the running, but the Security Council’s veto politics could still decide the outcome.A 2026 Lowy poll from two months ago shows that 70 per cent of Australians say that “the United Nations remains important to Australia’s national interests.” One would think, therefore, that there would be significant interest in the appointment of the UN’s tenth Secretary-General, which is taking place at the moment.Connie PeckAfter 81 years of men, will the UN finally choose a woman?The overall selection process is prescribed by Article 97 of the UN Charter: “The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.” But since the Charter offers little other guidance, various informal procedures and practices have evolved over time. One is the rule of regional rotation, with it currently being Latin America and the Caribbean’s “turn,” although candidates from other regions can also be nominated. Seven candidates have been nominated to date – five from Latin America and the Caribbean (four women and one man) and two from Africa (both men). Women have been nominated as candidates since 1991, however, no woman has ever been selected, in spite of campaigns to this effect in 2006 and 2016.It is generally accepted that candidates should come from small or mid-sized countries but not from the five permanent members (P5) of the Security Council. To be considered, a candidate must be nominated by one or more of the 193 member states, although the nomination does not have to come from the country of a candidate’s nationality.For many years, the selection process was opaque, but that has recently improved. The current round of nominations was initiated in November by a joint letter from the Presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council addressed to all member states, inviting nominations and explicitly encouraging countries, “to strongly consider nominating women as candidates.” The letter requested that nominations be accompanied by a nomination letter; a vision statement; a curriculum vitae; and a statement of campaign financing disclosures. As nominations were received, the Presidents jointly informed all members and the information was posted on a UN website.In response to General Assembly resolution 79/327 of 5 September 2025 on the revitalisation of the work of the General Assembly, the President organised interactive webcast dialogues with all candidates (each lasting three hours), where candidates responded to questions posed by representatives of member states and civil society. As anyone who has ever interviewed job applicants knows (and as I learned from watching the webcasts), this is very useful for identifying the best candidates.In addition, on 23 July, a UN Town Hall was organised in the General Assembly Hall by the President of the GA and broadcast live on Bloomberg, with two Bloomberg moderators presiding. All six candidates at the time (a seventh was subsequently nominated) appeared together on the stage and answered questions from the moderators and the audience, who were again representatives of member states and civil society. The Security Council also organised confidential closed-door sessions with each of the candidates.Subsequently, on 30 July, the Security Council held its first confidential “straw poll,” an iterative process repeated over a number of weeks to decide which candidate has the most support. In each, the 15 members of the Council, i.e., the P5 – the US, Russia, China, France and the UK – and its 10 elected members (E10) who serve two-year terms (currently, Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia) indicate which candidates they are willing to support by voting “encourage” (in favour), “discourage” (against) or “no opinion” (abstain).During the first rounds, the ballots are identical. However, after a few rounds (the number is not specified), the Council introduces colour-coded ballots: “red” for the P5 and “white” for the E10. From that point onward, votes carry different political weights, since a “discourage” vote from a P5 member is equivalent to a veto. At least nine “encourage” votes with no “discourage” votes from the P5 are required for a candidate to be selected. Candidates with a poor showing may withdraw, although there are no rules requiring this. Votes are intended to be confidential, but results usually leak, as they did after the 30 July straw poll.Once a determination has been made, the Security Council holds a formal vote and then makes a formal recommendation to the GA, which can be accepted by acclamation or by a formal vote of the 193 member states. In theory, the GA can send the Council’s recommendation back for reconsideration, although this has never happened.It has been argued that selecting a woman as Secretary-General could break the “glass ceiling,” but ultimately present her with a “glass cliff” where a woman is chosen during periods of institutional crises when risk of failure is the highest. While it is possible that this might account for some of the motivation of those involved in the selection process, the four women in the running have all broken glass ceilings in the past and overcome glass cliff phenomena by succeeding in very difficult leadership roles under daunting circumstances.Given that the appointment of a woman in this post is long overdue, there is reason to be hopeful.This will require, however, that none of the P5 veto her candidature. As noted by a report of Women in International Security, “All things considered, the chances of women in the running will depend heavily on the veto power of the United States or Russia who could block their appointment.” The UK, France and China have all indicated that they are positive about the appointment of a woman, but Russia has shown resistance to framing UN leadership selection around gender, and the US, under the Trump administration, has been averse to “diversity, equity and inclusion.”In a report discussing the possibility of a “discourage” vote from the P5, Rebeca Grynspan is generally “viewed as the candidate with the lowest ideological controversy,” and Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett “carries the lowest visible P5 friction,” although as Guyana’s permanent representative on the Security Council, she abstained on a 2024 US-sponsored Gaza ceasefire resolution which might annoy the US. Maria Fernanda Espinosa’s prior support for Julian Assange (as Ecuador’s UN representative and Foreign Minister) could “unsettle the UK which spent years pursuing his extradition.” Finally, China could “pose a challenge for Michelle Bachelet” since, at the end of her tenure as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, she authorised publication of a UN report (despite China lobbying against it) stating that abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities constitute crimes against humanity.Although the P5 have veto power, the E10 also have power since, if seven members agree on a single candidate and refuse to change their vote, the P5 would not be able to advance a candidate, even if they all agreed – because nine votes are required. With seven E10 members voting “discourage” on a P5 candidate, there would be only eight voting “encourage” and the vote would be blocked. This has even been called the “sixth veto power.”This momentous decision for the “most impossible job in the world” (as it was described by the UN’s first Secretary-General, Trygve Lie) will probably occur in early October. How the process is carried out and how its outcome is perceived will have significant implications for the restoration of confidence in the UN’s ability to fufil its mandate in an increasingly turbulent world.As the current President of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock (one of only five women ever elected to this post in 81 years; the other 76 were men), explains: “Our choice will send a powerful message about who we are, and whether we truly serve all 8 billion people of the world in all their diversity.”https://johnmenadue.com/post/2026/08/after-81-years-of-men-will-the-un-finally-choose-a-woman/PLEASE VISIT:YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.         Gus Leonisky         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.         RABID ATHEIST.         WELCOME TO THIS INSANE WORLD….PLEASE, CONNIE, DO NOT PUSH THIS WARMONGERING FEMALE, Annalena Baerbock, FOR THE ROLE OF LEADER OF THE UNITED NATIONS.... SHE'S AS DUMB AS A POLYURETHANE BRICK IN AN ACID BATH... AND HATES RUSSIA TO THE POINT SHE WISHES WINSTON CHURCHILL HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO NUKE IT AS HE REQUESTED IT FROM THE ALLIES, AFTER WORLD WAR TWO... GERMANY GOT BOOTED OUT OF THE COUNCIL BECAUSE OF ANNALENA...SAY, THE FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER OF AUSTRIA, Karin Kneissl, WOULD DO A FAR MORE SERIOUS JOB IN SMOOTHING THE SHARP EDGES OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE, ON THIS TINY PLANET....Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern WOULD DO A FAR BETTER JOB THAN THE PRESENT CROP OF DUDES AS WELL... OUR OWN Julia Gillard WOULD HOLD THE MISOGYNIST CLUB IN CONTEMPT AND WITH A BIT OF COACHING WOULD COME TO TERM WITH CORRUPT AGENT ZELENSKY FROM MI-6....AND WHAT ABOUT SOME PRESENT ASIAN WOMEN LEADERS? A FEMALE CHINESE ROBOT?====================PLEASE VISIT:YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.         Gus Leonisky         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.         RABID ATHEIST.         WELCOME TO THIS INSANE WORLD…. Page 2
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For a quarter century the United States has told the world, and itself, a simple story about its role in the Middle East. On September 11, 2001, it was attacked by Sunni jihadists, and it answered with a generational war against Sunni Islamic extremism — al-Qaeda first, the Islamic State later. Trillions of dollars, two invasions, a global drone and surveillance apparatus, and a lengthening list of designated terrorist organizations were all justified by that threat. This was the declared war, and it was real in its public form.Feeding the Enemy: How Washington’s Obsession With Iran Subverted Its Own War on Sunni Terrorby Larry C. Johnson    
Jeffrey Sachs delivers a blistering assessment of Donald Trump, arguing that the president’s leadership and use of power raise serious concerns about the state of American politics.Sachs describes Trump in deeply critical terms and argues that the larger problem goes beyond one individual. He says Trump is also a symptom of what he calls a deeply corrupted political system, pointing to presidential war powers, Congress, checks and balances, and America’s long-running foreign policy.Sachs also sharply criticizes media coverage of Trump, questioning what he sees as the normalization of increasingly extreme rhetoric and decisions. He challenges journalists and political leaders to ask harder questions about presidential power, accountability and the consequences of America’s foreign policy.  
 
 HERE WE GO AGAIN. HERE IS A BAD PROPAGANDA PEACE BY CNN AND ZAREED [FAREED ZAKARIA]... WE HOPED THAT ZAREED WAS MORE INTELLIGENT THAN AN ORDINARY WANKER BUT WE FAILED IN THIS ASSESSMENT... "ZAREED" OF COURSE DOES NOT EVEN MENTION PROPERLY THE PEACE TREATY IN ISTAMBUL THAT BORIS JOHNSON SCUTTLED...THIS PEACE AGREEMENT WAS DESIGNED TO RESTORE THE MINSK AGREEMENTS OF 2014 AND 2015, WHICH GAVE THE DONBASS TO UKRAINE IN AN AUTONOMOUS FORMAT, AND WERE SIGNED UPON BY GERMANY, FRANCE, RUSSIA AND UKRAINE — AND CONFIRMED BY THE UNITED NATIONS. BUT AS USUAL, THE WEST — ESPECIALLY GERMANY AND FRANCE — HAD BEEN DECEPTIVE... MERKEL AND HOLLANDE ADMITTED TO IT. AND YES PUTIN HAD TO CONTROL SOME DISSENT IN RUSSIA... WHO DOES NOT TRY TO PREVENT DISSENT — ESPECIALLY WHEN FOMENTED BY THE CIA AND MI6? OR EVEN PURE GREED OF THE OLIGARCHS?  
 
 A confronting display can be reconsidered. Removing a documented critique of the war on Gaza from a public library collection would be another matter entirely.Sydney’s Waverley Council, which includes Bondi Beach within its boundaries, has removed a book on the war on Gaza, titled How to Sell a Genocide, from its library shelves, pending review. This followed a complaint from a survivor of last year’s Bondi Beach massacre.  
 
 The Israeli military has announced it will open criminal investigations into two high-profile attacks on Palestinians during the Gaza war.In a report published Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had reviewed 150 incidents involving its troops in the Palestinian enclave and had made decisions about five of the cases.Israeli military to open criminal probes into 2 Gaza attacksNatalie Muller Reuters, AFP and APThe investigations will focus on the killings of 5-year-old Palestinian girl Hind ⁠Rajab and 15 emergency aid workers in Gaza. The decision came after a review of 150 incidents concerning the conduct of Israeli troops.  
 
 Duncan Chapel — a member of the British section of the Pabloite international network and a regular contributor to International Viewpoint and Anticapitalist Resistance — has published a libel against imprisoned Ukrainian anti-war socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk.His aim is to sabotage the growing international opposition to Bogdan’s persecution by the Zelensky regime, injecting poisonous misinformation and lies into the public discussion of the case. A case of political sabotage: Duncan Chapel’s filthy provocation against imprisoned Ukrainian socialist Bogdan SyrotiukBY WSWS International Editorial BoardHe is acting as a political provocateur, whose actions serve the interests of the fascistic Ukrainian regime and NATO.  
 
As the deadly Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon continues, the fabulously wealthy banker-turned-“philanthropist” Antoun Sehnaoui has assembled a network of business and media operatives in Washington – and a fascist Christian goon squad in Beirut – dedicated to doing Israel’s dirty work.In late July, Lebanese daily L’Orient Today exposed a wealthy banking heir named Antoun Sehnaoui as a driving force behind recent efforts to push the country to normalize relations with Israel as the apartheid state continues to occupy hundreds of square miles of southern Lebanon.  
 
After yet another heatwave and an unprecedented summer drought, farmers are struggling. Scorched by the exceptional heat, fruits and vegetables are rotting in the fields. Some livestock farmers are having to start reducing their herds, driven to desperation by their inability to feed them all.Faced with the disastrous consequences of the climate crisis on agriculture, and under pressure from farmers' unions, *Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was forced to address producers, some of whom are demanding emergency aid. In an open letter published in the regional press on August 15, the Prime Minister assured them that "no farmer will be left behind."  
 
A fresh wave of US tariffs on a wide array of Canadian goods has come into effect as of midnight on Saturday after a last minute break down in trade talks.Announcing the suspension of negotiations shortly before the Friday night deadline, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would impose reciprocal tariffs on US goods "dollar for dollar".Carney said "last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal".  
 
Pete Hegseth married his former Fox News colleague and third wife, Jennifer Rauchet, in 2019.The two first connected while they were both employed by the news station. At the time, they were both married to other people: Hegseth to Samantha Deering, with whom he shares three sons, and Rauchet to her former husband. Rauchet is also a mother of three from previous relationships.  
 
Across much of the world, attitudes towards China are improving as views of the United States deteriorate, with trust in American leadership, reliability and respect for freedoms all taking a hit.Donald Trump has achieved something remarkable. According to a July Pew Research report, most of the 36 countries surveyed found that more people have a favourable view of China than the US.Noel TurnbullTrump is making China look better to the world  
 
 Natalie Harp has long been one of President Donald Trump's closest aides, but a pointed comment from Sen. Jon Ossoff has put her into the national spotlight.During a rally in Atlanta on Aug. 16, the Georgia Democrat accused Trump of wanting to "travel with Natalie" instead of focusing on his duties, reigniting questions about the aide's influence and unusually close proximity to the president.  
 
The Kremlin has condemned Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s apparent support for the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage and his opposition to prosecuting the alleged perpetrators.Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to Tusk’s claim that those behind the September 2022 blasts should not be ashamed and that those who built the pipelines should be. Nord Stream was designed to carry Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.“If Mr. Tusk supports and endorses such acts of terrorism, it can only provoke astonishment and incomprehension,” Peskov told reporters on Friday, describing the blasts as “an act of terrorist sabotage against Europe’s critical energy infrastructure.”  
 
“What radicalized you?”“What Radicalized You?”At this point “What radicalized you?” is a much less interesting question to ask people than “Why aren’t you radicalized yet?”BY Caitlin Johnstone