There is no American-Russian agreement yet on the next Secretary-General of the United Nations

Former Costa Rican Vice President Rebecca Greenspan took an important additional step in her candidacy to become the tenth Secretary-General of the United Nations, but the first as a woman, by obtaining twelve “encouraging” votes from the 15 member states of the Security Council, without it being known whether among the three “discouraging” votes was any of the five permanent member states, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, who could overthrow them using the veto.

On Thursday afternoon, the 15 members of the Council held a secret ballot, the eighth, to choose a successor to the current Secretary-General, António Guterres, whose term expires at the end of this year. Greenspan, a Jew known for her support of Israel, took center stage in seven of the eight rounds conducted by Council members starting at the end of last July.

Diplomats at the United Nations confirm that the United States and Russia “have not yet reached” an agreement on any of the eight candidates.

Greenspan's continued progress was not affected by the late entry of the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Lana Nusseibeh, of Palestinian origin, and the Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Turkey, Feridun Sinirlioglu, into this race, without either of them obtaining 9 "encouragement" votes, which is supposed to be the necessary threshold for seeking further progress.

Greenspan, who until about 6 months ago headed the United Nations Trade and Development Authority, received 12 “encouragement” votes compared to 3 “discouragement” votes, meaning that she attracted an additional vote in her favor from the seventh round, according to diplomats, and she needs to avoid any “veto” in order for the Council to recommend her nomination to the General Assembly.

Although there is speculation that both the United States and Russia voted against it in previous ballots, Council members need to return to the color-coded ballots to see if it is still subject to veto.

In the last unofficial ballot, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Argentine Rafael Mariano Grossi, came second with nine “encouragement” votes, four “discouragement” votes, and two “no opinion” votes. This was also his result in the seventh round.

He was followed third by former Guyanese Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodriguez Burkett, with eight votes of “encouragement,” five “discouragement,” and two votes of “no opinion.”

As for Nusseibeh, she received seven “encouragement” votes, six “discouragement” votes, and two “no opinion” votes, placing her in fourth place. Former Speaker of the Ugandan People's Assembly, Olara Otunnu, came fifth, receiving 4 "encouragement" votes, 9 "discouragement" votes, and 2 "no opinion" votes. Sinirlioglu did not exceed three “encouragement” votes, eight “discouragement” votes, and four “no opinion” votes, leaving him sixth.

Former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa received three “encouragement” votes, ten “discouragement” votes, and two “no opinion.”

Similar to the previous time, the Ecuadorian diplomat of Lebanese origin, Yvonne Abdel Baqi, achieved the weakest result, with one “encouragement” vote and 14 “discouragement” votes.

If Greenspan eventually wins, she will be the first woman to hold this position, knowing that the list so far includes: Norwegian Trygve Lie, Swedish Dag Hammarskjöld, Burmese U Thant, Austrian Kurt Waldheim, Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Egyptian Boutros Boutros Ghali, Ghanaian Kofi Annan, South Korean Ban Ki-moon and Portuguese António Guterres.

The process of selecting the new Secretary-General of the United Nations comes in light of the tremendous transformations that the international system has witnessed, not only during the past ten years during which Guterres was at the helm of the international organization, but also during the first quarter of the twenty-first century. The international organization now faces double burdens, in light of the war that Russia started more than 4 years ago in Ukraine, the recent war between the United States (and Israel included) with Iran, and the conflicts in many Arab and African countries. In addition, prominent issues have entered the crisis line, from the astonishing rise of artificial intelligence technology, climate change, and seasons of mass migration.

Guterres' successor faces the task of revitalizing an organization suffering from a crisis of confidence and declining standing, and is under increasing pressure to reduce its bloated budget.

The future of US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has entered a stage of political and constitutional testing, after outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie, who lost his party's primary elections, announced his intention to re-introduce a resolution to impeach him in the House of Representatives in preparation for his trial and removal.

However, on Thursday, President Donald Trump renewed his commitment to his stay, saying that he had done a wonderful job. The confrontation goes beyond the minister's fate to distributing responsibility for the Iran war and its electoral repercussions, amid a discrepancy between the president's praise of his performance and holding his deputy, J.D. Vance, primarily responsible for the Republican defeat.

According to ABC, Massie intends to present his resolution on Monday or Tuesday, and believes that sufficient Republican defections will allow it to be passed. Thus, the confrontation may begin even before Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in January.

On the other hand, Trump confirmed that he had “every intention” to keep Hegseth, while acknowledging that he had received calls criticizing him. The New York Times quoted him as describing the minister's performance as wonderful, while Hegseth, in a video he posted on social media in front of the Pentagon, pledged to complete what he started, and defended a war that he considered necessary to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon.

However, public defense does not eliminate indicators of review within the administration; The Washington Post reported that Trump discussed the minister’s performance with friends and advisors, while his vague reference to Hegseth’s “interesting matters” sparked further interpretations.

Constitutionally, the House of Representatives can impeach a minister by a simple majority, which is called “impeachment,” although it does not equal actual dismissal; The Minister shall remain in office during the proceedings, unless he resigns or is removed by the President, until he is convicted by the Senate. Conviction requires the approval of two-thirds of the senators present.

Neither path will Hegseth's departure automatically stop the war. The president remains the supreme commander, and the law stipulates that the operational chain of command passes from the president to the Minister of Defense and then the commanders of combatant commands.

Yesterday (Thursday), US President Donald Trump signed a decree classifying the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room in the White House as national monuments, in a move he said aims to protect these two spaces located in the West Wing from any changes that may be made to them in the future, according to CNN.