As United Nations member states prepare to elect a new secretary-general, they should break with precedent and choose a woman. This would not be a corrective gesture or a form of symbolic representation, but rather a strategic acknowledgment that leadership selection must reflect the realities of contemporary governance.
VIENNA/RIGA/TBILISI—Eighty years after its founding, the United Nations finds itself in a period of sustained geopolitical upheaval. Great-power rivalries have narrowed the space for collective action. Armed conflicts are multiplying and escalating. Climate shocks are exacerbating economic volatility, in turn stymieing climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. At the same time, the UN’s relevance is being tested as governments and societies steadily lose confidence in multilateral institutions’ ability to meet the moment.