LAMENTING that geopolitical divides are undermining the work of the Security Council and all forms of international cooperation, UN chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday warned that the world risks ending up with “G-nothing” -- no collective problem solving -- even as cooperation and dialogue is the only path forward to deal with the world’s challenges.

“Our world is in peril – and paralysed. Geopolitical divides are: Undermining the work of the Security Council. Undermining international law. Undermining trust and people’s faith in democratic institutions. Undermining all forms of international cooperation. We cannot go on like this,” the Secretary General said in his address to the high-level session of the UN General Assembly.

Guterres told the world leaders, gathered in-person at the UN headquarters for the General Debate after two years of COVID disruption, that even the various groupings set up outside the multilateral system by some members of the international community have fallen into the trap of geopolitical divides, like the G-20.

“At one stage, international relations seemed to be moving toward a G-2 world; now we risk ending up with G-nothing. No cooperation. No dialogue. No collective problem solving,” he said. The UN chief underlined that the reality is that “we live in a world where the logic of cooperation and dialogue is the only path forward. No

power or group alone can call the shots”. “No major global challenge can be solved by a coalition of the willing. We need a coalition of the world,” he said.