IDOS 8d ago

Germany's setback to secure a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council is more than just a diplomatic setback. It is a structural signal and a sign of reduced credibility. For decades, Germany cultivated a role as the honest broker at the level of the United Nations, standing in for international law, standing in for a principled and rules-based order and a rules-based negotiation of solutions in addressing global challenges. This image and reputation has taken damage, partly due to Germany's hesitant approach to criticizing the current Israeli government in its approach in Gaza, in its actions also with regard to Lebanon. But also in Germany's rather evasive approach in criticizing the current US administration in its actions in Venezuela earlier this year, for instance. So Germany should indeed learn from the Security Council defeat that it needs to invest into its credibility. The upcoming Hamburg Sustainability Conference is such a platform, is an opportunity to invest into into building alliances, into investing into the search for consensus in a world where exactly this consensus has become rare. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as the Pact for the Future act here as a uniting frame and as a normative orientation that indeed brings the world together.