UN in crisis? Trump threatens Iran, world leaders stay home.

As Secretary-General António Guterres prepares to step down, the UN General Assembly this week highlighted the growing challenges facing the organisation. The UN was founded to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war," according to its charter. Yet in his address to the assembly on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump threatened Iran, a fellow member state, with annihilation. On Venezuela, he boasted that "to the victor belong the spoils" — a phrase that ignores international law. Trump's speech was seen as slightly less hostile than last year's, only because it did not directly attack the UN itself. Instead, it attacked the principles the UN was built on. The empty seats were as revealing as Trump's presence. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not attended in over a decade. Chinese President Xi Jinping is also absent — a notable snub, given he is in Washington to meet Trump. India's Narendra Modi did not come. Nor did the leaders of Africa's three largest nations: South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt. Their reasons vary. But together, the absences reflect both Trump's disruptive influence and the wider struggles the UN now faces.