The U.N.’s Next Leader Will Be Either a Secretary or a General

The U.N.’s Next Leader Will Be Either a Secretary or a General

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Analysis:

The U.N.’s Next Leader Will Be Either a Secretary or a General

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Analysis

The U.N.’s Next Leader Will Be Either a Secretary or a General

The race to succeed António Guterres has started—and four very different candidates are in the running.

!Vohra-Anchal-foreign-policy-columnist18

*Vohra-Anchal-foreign-policy-columnist18*

*Anchal Vohra*

By **Anchal Vohra**, a columnist at *Foreign Policy*.

!Portraits of former United Nations Secretary Generals are displayed in the U.N.'s headquarters in Manhattan on September 09, 2025, in New York City.

*Portraits of former United Nations Secretary Generals are displayed in the U.N.'s headquarters in Manhattan on September 09, 2025, in New York City.*

Portraits of former United Nations Secretary Generals are displayed in the U.N.'s headquarters in Manhattan on September 09, 2025, in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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September 1, 2026, 9:17 AM

For a world mired in conflict and desperate for an unbiased interlocutor, the election of the next United Nations secretary-general couldn’t have come at a better time. The U.N.’s top boss is expected to be the peacemaker-in-chief, at least in theory, and perhaps more importantly, the guardian of a collective moral compass, regardless of national affiliations. Are any of the eight candidates up to the task?

As the race heats up, a former U.N. diplomat, who spoke with *Foreign Policy* on condition of anonymity, quipped that the key question is whether the P5—the permanent five Security Council members, which each hold a veto—want a secretary or a general.

For a world mired in conflict and desperate for an unbiased interlocutor, the election of the next United Nations secretary-general couldn’t have come at a better time. The U.N.’s top boss is expected to be the peacemaker-in-chief, at least in theory, and perhaps more importantly, the guardian of a collective moral compass, regardless of national affiliations. Are any of the eight candidates up to the task?

As the race heats up, a former U.N. diplomat, who spoke with *Foreign Policy* on condition of anonymity, quipped that the key question is whether the P5—the permanent five Security Council members, which each hold a veto—want a secretary or a general.

A general might take a hands-on approach to the various conflicts engulfing the world and try to revive an institution struggling to remain relevant as regional actors offer mediation services while the U.N. itself is bogged down by its own bureaucracy and undermined by the United States, its biggest sponsor.

But the powerful countries that have the most say in the ultimate decision seem to prefer a secretary—someone who can manage the clashing interests of global powers without grabbing attention.

The sitting U.N. chief, António Guterres, has had a tough ride under U.S. President Donald Trump, who has made no secret of his contempt for everything that the United Nations stands for: respect for due process, human rights, international law, and equal status for all in the family of nations. Guterres’s successor can expect to navigate a minefield, as the United States openlylinks its funding to further national interests as Trump sees fit.

However, Trump’s lack of faith and transactional approach won’t be the only problem.

China is thesecond-biggestcontributor, rising from contributing 1 percent of the costs in 2000 to 20 percent this year—comparable to the United States’ 22 percent. China is also assessed to contribute more than 23 percent of the budget that goes toward the organization’s peacekeeping forces, a little under the United States’ 26 percent.

Insiders say that Beijing is clamoring for a bigger say. Meanwhile, Russia intends to continue exploiting its position on the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) to gain leverage in other theaters. The United Kingdom and France also hold a veto, but their geopolitical weight is less of a factor and isn’t expected to sway the election.

The selection process has begun, with two rounds of straw or informal votes having already been held by the 15 members of the Security Council—a process undertaken to determine whether any of the five permanent members appears likely to block a candidate.

Based on those straw-poll votes, and also the geographic turn-taking that the United Nations often adheres to, most believe the next leader will be from Latin America. Specifically, the race is largely believed to be between four Latin Americans, three of whom are women.

Former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan is among thetop candidates. She was the front-runner in the first straw poll conducted by the UNSC, which includes 10 temporary members in addition to the five permanent ones. The poll is split into three categories: encourage, discourage, and no opinion, and nine “encourage” votes—as well as no vetoes from the permanent members—are needed to win. Ten nations “encouraged” Grynspan’s nomination in the first round, while only one expressed apprehension.

If she is the final choice, she would be the first woman and the first Jew to hold the top U.N. position at a time when Israel’s relationship with the organization has hit rock bottom.

Trump shares Israel’s mistrust of some of the U.N.’s bodies that are active in the Middle East, such as the U.N. Relief and Works Agency which is mandated to look after Palestinian refugees displaced from their homes as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (