The first in-person United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic kicked off in New York on Tuesday with an air of pessimism over the state of multilateralism at the institution, despite hopes that the end of virtual meetings would reinvigorate global diplomacy.

The funeral of British Monarch Queen Elizabeth II on Monday, attended by at least 500 world leaders and country representatives, has complicated UN organizers’ efforts to secure RSVPs from senior diplomats and world leaders, resulting in a recast of the UNGA schedule of speakers.

But the funeral was not the sole reason for the assembly’s somber atmosphere. In remarks ahead of the general debate, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres lamented the mountain of challenges to be tackled over the next two weeks, including climate change, food crises, economic difficulties and increasing demagoguery worldwide.

He also decried a decline of multilateralism.

“I have the feeling that we are still far away from peace. [...] I would be lying if I [said peace] would happen soon,” Guterres told reporters on Saturday. “Geostrategic divides are the wildest they have been since at least the Cold War. [...] The solidarity envisioned in the [UN] charter is being devoured by the acids of nationalism and self-interest.”

While Guterres chose the imagery of acidic corrosion, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has, on some occasions, used the metaphor of a virulent “virus”. She has also suggested that the “vaccine” for this pathogen is “strategic trust”.

Diplomats from the Russian and US embassies in Jakarta told The Jakarta Post that dialogue was becoming increasingly difficult, though US diplomats emphasized that they were trying to maintain communication nonetheless.

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