World leaders face a slew of multilateral summits over the coming month, including the BRICS meeting in South Africa, the G20 in India, and the UN General Assembly in New York. This rare convergence of top-tier international gatherings is a symptom of the increasing importance of high-level summitry in international diplomacy.
Having essentially stumbled into the business of being an analyst and commentator on multilateral matters by chance, I often feel uncomfortable offering others career advice. But if I cannot be of much help as a career planner, what I’ve learned over the past two decades does allow me to offer some tips about how to be a policy wonk.
The U.N. General Assembly just took a small step toward strengthening its role in international peace and security. The assembly typically plays second fiddle to the Security Council on such issues. But with the council embroiled in debates between Russia and the West, many U.N. members feel the assembly should compensate for its flaws.
