United States of America eSeries: 'We're not counting our chickens'

'We're not counting our chickens'

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September 21, 2021

Stephen Collinson and Caitlin Hu

'We're not counting our chickens'

The first two leader speeches at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday will lay bare the global political schism triggered by the pandemic.

First up is Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who makes mask-mocking Donald Trump appear a paragon of public health guidance, after joking that vaccines might turn people into crocodiles and downplaying Covid-19 as a "little flu." Bolsonaro, who boasts about the potency of his own antibodies, is set to refuse a UN request for everyone that enters the General Assembly Hall to be vaccinated. The populist Brazilian recently foresaw only three possibilities for his future as he seeks reelection next year: "being arrested, killed or victory." His big UN moment will be the best hope for fireworks among connoisseurs of past stem-winders by vintage strongmen like Moammar Gadhafi of Libya or Fidel Castro of Cuba.

Until last year, the United States had its own UN General Assembly stand-up act. Trump warned in 2017 that he might have to "totally destroy" North Korea unless "Rocket Man" Kim Jong Un — with whom he later "fell in love" — didn't smarten up. In 2018, Trump drew guffaws in the chamber when he boasted that no administration ever had achieved more than his. Last year, Trump slammed China for unleashing the Covid "plague" on the US.

Don't expect Biden — who will deliver the second speech from the blue, green and gold splendor of the UN Chamber — to light it up. But the world will be listening. Unlike Bolsonaro (and Trump), the current US President takes the pandemic seriously, even though he's been outpaced by the Delta variant.

It's not exactly been smooth sailing from the US since Trump left. The chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and what France sees as a betrayal over a US submarine deal with Australia have raised questions about Biden's foreign policy nous. Searing attacks against the last election by Trump and Republican enablers suggest that when Biden warns democracy is under attack, he should look in his backyard first. And there remains a vacancy — for a nation willing to grab the rest of the developed world by the scruff of the neck and to help poorer nations get the vaccine doses that would end the pandemic. For all of America's problems, it's hard to see any other nation doing that. You're up, Mr. President.

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Canadians went to the polls in a snap election.

Poland was ordered to pay $580,000 each day it operates a controversial mine.

A member of the CIA reported "Havana syndrome" symptoms on a trip to India.

And a swarm of bees killed 63 endangered penguins in South Africa.

Meanwhile, the US plans to reopen to fully vaccinated travelers.

Stocks tumbled over concerns about Chinese conglomerate Evergrande's debt crisis.

And Boeing is reportedly investigating empty tequila bottles found in a future Air Force One.

Images of US Border Patrol agents on horseback on the banks of the Rio Grande on Sunday have raised questions about the kinds of tactic being used to control an influx of Haitian migrants in the area. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has defended the use of horse patrols but said the department would investigate the situation.

'We're not counting our chickens'

Sixty years ago this week, a new US Democratic President, a Roman Catholic who wore his Irish heritage on his sleeve, stepped up to make his first speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

"Together we shall save our planet, or together we shall perish in its flames," he warned. President John Kennedy had in mind nuclear annihilation — which he helped avert a year later in the Cuban Missile Crisis. But his message may not be that different from that of the Irish American Catholic Democratic President who takes global center stage on Tuesday.

Joe Biden is expected to urge the rest of the world to join in an Earth-saving climate change effort just weeks before the next UN summit in Scotland geared to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. But the extent of America's commitment to that effort remains in doubt even after months of globe-trotting by Biden's climate envoy, John Kerry.

The policy moves needed to transition the US away from a carbon economy are included in more than $4 trillion of Biden's spending plans currently in limbo on Capitol Hill. The host of the Glasgow summit, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is already at the UN, and he spent time on Monday listening to representatives of developing nations most at risk from climate change, including the Marshall Islands, Costa Rica and others. He said several Scandinavian states made promising offers of climate finance funds to help poorer nations mitigate the impact of a warming planet. But everyone is waiting on Washington.

"We've all heard lots of pledges, lots of positive noises," Johnson said on Monday. But added: "We're not counting our chickens."

No one involved in treacherous global climate politics would ever do that.

Slow-motion video showed the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupting on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma on Sunday, sending rivers of lava toward two villages. (Reuters)

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On Tuesday, the UN's General Debate kicks off. The EU's European affairs ministers will be planning for a summit next month. And the OECD updates its forecasts for major economies.