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Indonesia warns of deepening conflict
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Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi addresses the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, on Monday Sept. 26, 2022. (JP/Tama Salim)
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oreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi used her speech on the last day of the United Nations General Assembly on Monday to warn the world against getting dragged into another global war, offer up a “new paradigm of collaboration” to avert it and call for imminent UN reforms.
Indonesia’s turn to speak at the assembly came just a day after the United States said it would act “decisively” against Russian threats to deploy its nuclear arsenal, capping off a week at the UN defined by tense cross-talk, thinning solidarity and narrow self-interest.
“Crisis after crisis is unfolding around the world,” Retno said as she opened her address to the biggest annual event for multilateralism since the COVID-19 pandemic, warning the world to watch out for a huge impending war.
“Let us look at the period leading up to World War II; the Great Depression, the rise of ultra-nationalism, competition over resources and rivalry between major powers,” she said. “These are very similar to what we are facing today.”
If the world continues on the same path, she added, it would be “heading toward a disaster”.
“But if we choose a different path,” the minister went on, the world could still stand a chance. “So today I would like to offer you a world order based on a new paradigm.”
This paradigm – offering a win-win solution rather than playing a zero-sum game; prioritizing engagement over containment; and promoting collaboration rather than competition – is the “transformative solution” the world needs right now, Retno said.
