World's Toughest Job

How Can a New Secretary-General Protect the Infrastructure We All Depend on?

The cables that carry most of the world’s data, the shipping lanes that carry its energy and goods, and the satellites that keep its financial systems running were all built on the assumption that the global economy was something that most actors wanted to protect. But that assumption is now being tested. Our connectivity has created new vulnerabilities, with physical and digital chokepoints that are exposed as single points of failure. So now, the next United Nations secretary-general inherits a different problem: As the infrastructure connecting the world becomes a target for attacks, what can they do to protect it? Host Jasmin Bauomy and co-host Mark Malloch-Brown are joined by Sal Mercogliano, associate professor of history at Campbell University who runs a YouTube channel on shipping, Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and the author of the upcoming book Undersea War, and Parag Khanna, founder and CEO of AlphaGeo.  World’s Toughest Job is a co-production of Foreign Policy and the UN Foundation.

As Another Economic Crisis Looms, How Should the UN Respond?

In 1994, United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali proposed a radical, new vision to reform the global financial infrastructure. He called it An Agenda for Development. But his proposal was watered down in committee and largely ignored by the financial powers of the time.  Today, more than 50 countries are in serious distress because of their debt.  And now, the crisis in the Hormuz Strait is affecting food prices, currencies, and fuel supplies all at once. And the G20 can’t seem to agree on a course of action for how to solve it all. So what could or should the next secretary-general do? Can the UN become a platform for global economic governance — the way Boutros-Ghali hoped it could be? Host Jasmin Bauomy and co-host Mark Malloch-Brown are joined by Homi Kharas, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.; Carlos Lopes, professor at the Nelson Mandela School, University of Cape Town and a former UN under-secretary-general; and Attiya Waris, professor of fiscal law and policy at the University of Nairobi. World’s Toughest Job is a co-production of Foreign Policy and the UN Foundation.

Does the UN Have a Seat at the AI Table?

In the United Nations’ early years, Secretary-General Trygve Lie negotiated with governments to stop the nuclear arms race. But today, the code that could reshape civilization is owned by private companies.  This year, one of the leading artificial intelligence labs decided its new model was too dangerous to release. It was essentially a private CEO making a governance call for the entire world. The UN wasn’t in the room.  In fact, it wasn't even invited. The UN is trying to catch up. It has launched a new scientific panel, and it is hosting global dialogues in Geneva to get everyone on the same page. But is that enough? Or will the next secretary-general get left behind while Silicon Valley writes the rules for the future? Host Jasmin Bauomy and co-host Mark Malloch-Brown are joined by Ambassador Philip Thigo, Kenya’s special envoy for technology; Nur Laiq, a technology and policy Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School; and Max Stauffer, co-founder of the Simon Institute for Longterm Governance in Geneva. World’s Toughest Job is a co-production of Foreign Policy and the UN Foundation.

Can the Next Secretary-General Deliver for the World’s Young People and Young Countries?

In 1960, when 17 African nations declared independence from colonial rule, the United Nations reinvented itself. Today, Africa and parts of Asia are home to the largest generation of young people in history.  In Africa alone, 12 million young people enter the workforce every year, but only 3 million formal jobs are created. Development assistance is no longer enough. African leaders want real structural power in the global economy. On this episode of World’s Toughest Job, we ask: Can the next U.N. secretary-general deliver for the world’s young people and young countries?  Host Jasmin Bauomy and co-host Mark Malloch-Brown are joined by Martin Kimani, president and CEO of the Africa Center and a former Kenyan ambassador to the U.N.; Joe Studwell, a senior fellow at the United Kingdom’s Overseas Development Institute and the Africa Urban Lab; and Saru Duckworth, a doctoral researcher at Oxford University. World’s Toughest Job is a co-production of Foreign Policy and the UN Foundation.

Can the Secretary-General Still Act as a Firebreak on Peace and Security?

During the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, United Nations Secretary-General U Thant had three things on his side: personal diplomacy, the UN’s neutrality, and a few precious days to negotiate.  Today, the risk from war is once again at a dangerous level. And on this episode of World’s Toughest Job, we ask what leverage the next secretary-general will have when a threat simmers for months or years and then explodes—not in 13 days, but in 13 hours. Can they still act as a firebreak when the old safety nets are gone? Or is it truly an impossible job? Jasmin Bauomy and Mark Malloch-Brown are joined by Lynn Kuok, the Lee Kuan Yew chair at Brookings Institution; Ankit Panda, nuclear weapons expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; and Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, president of the International Peace Institute.  World’s Toughest Job is a co-production of Foreign Policy and the UN Foundation.