EDITH M. LEDERER 联合国 — 1月1日，下一任联合国秘书长将接管这个仍由二战列强控制的老迈组织。世界将需要这位新领导人做什么？
EDITH M. LEDERER UNITED NATIONS — On Jan. 1, the next United Nations secretary-general will take over an aging organization still controlled by World War II powers. What will the world need from that person?
这家81岁的机构曾是解决全球冲突和危机的主要参与者，如今却在设法结束伊朗、乌克兰和加沙战争的核心桌面上被边缘化。而其岌岌可危的财政状况——主要源于美国拖欠的数十亿美元会费——迫使其大幅削减了人道主义和发展项目，而在这些领域联合国一直是关键参与者。
Once a major player in solving conflicts and crises around the world, the 81-year-old institution has been sidelined from the top table in trying to end the wars in Iran, Ukraine and Gaza. And its precarious financial situation — caused mainly by the billions of dollars the United States owes — has forced major cuts to its humanitarian and development programs where it has remained a key player.
上周结束的联合国年度全球领导人聚会，对下一任联合国掌门人需要聚焦和追求的目标提供了一些启示。
The annual global gathering of world leaders at the United Nations that ended last week shed some light on what the next U.N. chief needs to focus on and pursue.
在向大会发表的告别演讲中，即将卸任的秘书长古特雷斯对全球领导人表示：“世界不需要一个更弱的联合国。”
In his farewell address to the General Assembly, outgoing Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told global leaders, “The world does not need a weaker United Nations.”
他说：“世界需要一个足以直面现实世界、又有足够决心建设理想世界的联合国。”但这真的可能吗？
“It needs a U.N. strong enough to face the world as it is,” he said, “and determined enough to build the world as it should.”But is that even possible?
掌舵联合国10年后，古特雷斯表示，他深信联合国最大的力量在于构建一个造福所有人的明天。正如他所言，“我们共同的未来将取决于人类能否明智地驾驭权力。”
After 10 years at the helm of the United Nations, Guterres said he is strongly convinced that its greatest power is to build a tomorrow that works for everyone. As he put it, “Our shared future will be forged by whether humanity can govern power wisely.”
随后，古特雷斯向将由其继任者、大会193个成员国“以及人类自身”领导的联合国发出挑战：你们将“维护法律，以免有罪不罚成为常态”吗？将“终结战争，以免其吞噬一代又一代人”吗？将“解决不平等，以免社会分崩离析”吗？将“加速气候行动，以免跨越临界点”吗？将“治理人工智能，以免其统治我们”吗？古特雷斯发问。
Guterres then issued challenges to the United Nations that will be led by his successor, the 193 countries in the General Assembly “and humanity itself.”Will you “uphold the law before impunity becomes normalized?”Will you “end wars before they consume generations?”Will you tackle inequality “before societies fracture?”Will you accelerate climate action “before tipping points are crossed?”Will you govern artificial intelligence “before it governs us?”Guterres asked.
对于下一任秘书长——选拔过程正在进行中——首要任务将是重新配置联合国，使其反映21世纪而非其成立时的二战后时代。
For the next secretary-general — the selection process is ongoing — the top priority will be reconfiguring the United Nations to reflect the 21st century rather than the post-World War II era when it was established.
“新任联合国负责人将面临联合国几十年来最艰巨的任务，因为联合国正在经历一个长期以来未曾经历的关键改革进程，”开放社会研究所倡导主任基齐托·比恩克亚表示。
The new U.N. chief “will have the most monumental task that the U.N. has faced in decades because you have a U.N. that’s going through this critical reform process that it has not gone through for a long time,” said Kizito Byenkya, the Open Society Institute’s advocacy director.
联合国的财政危机导致预算削减，并推动整合项目和机构，取消数百项命令联合国秘书处采取各种行动并提交报告的授权，其中许多报告从未被阅读。这仅仅是其中几例。
The U.N.'s financial crisis has led to budget cuts and efforts to consolidate programs and agencies, and eliminate hundreds of mandates ordering the U.N. Secretariat to take a wide variety of actions and deliver reports, many that never get read. That’s just to name a few.
与此同时，比恩克亚告诉美联社：“各方都对新任秘书长施加巨大压力，要求其像一位将军一样行事，真正在世界冲突调解中发挥核心作用。”他提到了已故秘书长科菲·安南，后者直接参与了一些冲突，是一位熟练的调解员和谈判专家。
At the same time, Byenkya told The Associated Press, “You have huge pressure on all sides for the new secretary-general to act like a general and really play a central role in mediation for world conflicts.”He cited the late secretary-general Kofi Annan, who became directly involved in some conflicts and was a skilled mediator and negotiator.
“如果你看看我们过去几年面临的冲突，比如从加沙到苏丹再到乌克兰等，你常常不得不问自己：联合国在所有这些冲突中的作用何在？”他说。“在科菲·安南时代，他是所有冲突的核心。”
“If you look at the conflicts we’ve been facing in the last few years, let’s say from Gaza to Sudan to Ukraine and more, you often have to ask yourself: Where has the role of the United Nations been with all of these?,” he said. “In the time of Kofi Annan, he was center to all.”
在高级别周期间，领导人接连发声谈论改革的必要性。但当涉及采取行动时，严重且有时无法调和的分歧浮现出来，尤其是在改革安理会——联合国最强有力的机构、至今仍由二战胜利国控制——方面。
During high-level week, leader after leader spoke of the need for reform. But when it comes to taking action, serious and sometimes impossible differences emerge, especially when it comes to reforming the Security Council, the U.N.’s most powerful body and still controlled by the World War II victors.
所有联合国成员国都希望看到安理会反映21世纪的世界，但在如何扩大安理会的问题上存在巨大的国家分歧。这已阻碍进展数十年。
All U.N. member nations want to see the council reflect the 21st century world, but there are huge national differences on how it should be expanded. That has stymied progress for decades.
五个常任理事国——美国、俄罗斯、中国、英国和法国——拥有否决权，这赋予了它们最终的控制权。非洲拥有15亿人口，却没有常任理事国席位。拉丁美洲也没有。那些因气候变化而面临生存威胁的岛国集合体也没有。
The five permanent members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — hold veto power, which gives them ultimate control. Africa, home to 1.5 billion people, has no permanent seat. Neither does Latin America. Neither do the collection of island nations whose existence is threatened by climate change.
“安理会改革不是对非洲的恩赐，”加纳总统约翰·马哈马上周对世界领导人说。“这是关乎联合国合法性、公信力和生存的当务之急。”
“Security Council reform is not a favor to Africa,” Ghana’s President John Mahama told world leaders last week. “It is an imperative for the legitimacy, credibility, and survival of the United Nations.”
马哈马还提出了下一任联合国秘书长将面临的或许是最棘手的问题：世界的“严重碎片化、不平等加剧以及对我们多边体系信任的侵蚀。”
Mahama also raised perhaps the most difficult problem that will confront the next U.N. chief: the world’s “intense fragmentation, deepening inequality and eroded trust in our multilateral system.”
“我们必须应对当今全球秩序的令人震惊的崩塌，”他说，并指出了“向单边主义危险滑向”的趋势。
“We must address the alarming breakdown of global order today,” he said, pointing to “the dangerous drift toward unilateralism.”
马哈马赞扬了《联合国宪章》，其开篇明文指出该组织成立是为了防止20世纪两次世界大战的重演。他说，这一宗旨“必须凌驾于‘强权即公理’这一愤世嫉俗的学说之上。”伊迪丝·M·莱德勒为美联社报道国际事务已超过半个世纪。
Mahama lauded the U.N. Charter, whose opening words say the organization was founded to prevent a repetition of the 20th century’s two world wars. That, he said, “must reign supreme over the cynical doctrine that `might makes right.’”Edith M. Lederer has covered international affairs for The Associated Press for more than a half century.