UN Security Council Holds Third Straw Poll on September 18 to Select Next Secretary-General Ahead of High-Level General Assembly Week

The UN Security Council conducted its third informal straw poll on the morning of Friday September 18 to gauge support for candidates seeking to succeed António Guterres as Secretary-General, with the vote coming just days before world leaders gather in New York for next week's high-level General Assembly that runs September 22-28. The poll, held in the consultation room with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Bahrain serving as tellers, follows the first and second straw polls held on July 30 and August 21 respectively, with all ballots remaining undifferentiated at this stage so results do not yet reveal whether any discouraging votes come from the five permanent veto-wielding members. The US State Department issued its first public comments on the high-profile job search on Thursday, urging the UN to go in a different direction and select a leader who will return the organization to its primary purpose of maintaining peace and security in the world rather than the absurd, politicized, woke ideology that has undermined the institution's effectiveness. The selection process is unfolding at a moment when the international system is becoming increasingly fragmented and confidence in multilateral institutions is declining, with the next Secretary-General set to inherit overlapping crises including wars in Ukraine and Sudan, a fractured Security Council, and a global financial architecture under strain. The process itself reflects those divisions, with many member states agreeing the successor should come from the Global South though not as a rule, while the question remains whether the P5 can agree on a name. Under Article 97 of the UN Charter, the Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council, with the straw poll process designed to narrow down candidacies through encourage or discourage votes before the formal recommendation. The race for UN Secretary-General is certain to dominate conversation during U