As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I spend a good part of my time talking to leaders and taking the pulse of global developments.

It is evident that we are at a crucial juncture in international relations.

Global decision-making processes have ground to a halt – and a fundamental paradox is at the root.

Many political leaders recognize the dangers that threaten us all – Covid-19, climate change, the unbridled development of new technologies.

They agree that these dangers must be countered.

However, this common understanding is not offset by common action.

In fact, the rifts continue to deepen.

We see them everywhere: in the unfair and unequal distribution of vaccines, in a global economic system that systematically disadvantages the poor, in the grossly inadequate response to the climate crisis, in digital technologies and a media landscape that benefits from divisions, and in the rise of unrest and conflicts around the world.

So if the world is united in diagnosing these common problems, why is it failing to address them effectively?

I see two main reasons for this.

First, foreign policy often becomes an extension of domestic policy.

As a former prime minister, I know that, despite the best of intentions, issues of international concern can get caught up in domestic politics.

When it comes to supposedly national interests, the global common good easily falls by the wayside.

This impulse is understandable, even if misguided in cases where solidarity is in a country's self-interest.

pull together

The vaccination situation is a prime example.

It's no secret that a virus like the coronavirus doesn't stop at national borders.

The only way to reduce the risk of new and more dangerous variants, affecting everyone in all countries, is to vaccinate everyone.

However, instead of prioritizing the establishment of a global plan to vaccinate everyone, governments have tended to focus on protecting their own country's population.

With this strategy, however, they stop halfway.

Of course, governments must protect their country's people.

However, if they do not simultaneously work to ensure that the entire world population is vaccinated, their national immunization plans may be in vain as new virus variants continue to emerge and spread.

Second, many global institutions or regulatory frameworks are now outdated or simply too weak, and geopolitical divisions are preventing necessary reforms.

For example, the World Health Organization is far from equipped with the powers it needs to coordinate the fight against global pandemics.

At the same time, more powerful international institutions are either paralyzed - like the Security Council - or undemocratic - like many of our international financial institutions.