Rafael Grossi: The UN must choose focus or face irrelevance

The IAEA director believes the organization’s current state of paralysis stems from a lack of strategic discipline. By spreading its resources thin across an endless array of crises, the U.N. has inadvertently sidelined its own ability to effect change. Grossi points to his own agency’s work in brokering ceasefires at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as a model for how a multilateral body can remain relevant through hands-on, specific engagement rather than administrative posturing.

His critique arrives at a moment of deep geopolitical friction, with the war in Ukraine and stalled nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran testing the limits of international cooperation. Grossi contends that the U.N. must stop acting as a passive spectator and instead prioritize areas where it can exert tangible influence. While he remains diplomatic regarding his bid for the Secretary-General’s office, his platform is clear: the path to restoring the U.N.’s authority lies in structural reform and a ruthless prioritization of its core mandates.