In the wake of the Al-Aqsa Flood, the Hamas attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel initiated a large-scale military operation against the Gaza Strip. The asymmetric and intense military attacks ended up with genocide. So far, Israel has killed more than 42.000 Palestinians, most of which are innocent children and women, wounded more than 90,000 and displaced more than 2 million people. Israeli security forces hit civilian residential areas, including schools, hospitals, ambulances, mosques, churches, tents, refugee camps and the U.N. centers. Eventually, Israeli forces destroyed almost all of the Gaza Strip. With the unconditional support of Western countries such as the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom, Israel violated all principles of international humanitarian law in front of the world.

President Erdoğan dedicating a significant portion of his UN speech to Gaza highlighted not only the importance of the Palestinian issue for Türkiye but also its central role in regional peace and global governance. The moral clarity and call to action on this matter, which has been a recurring theme in Erdoğan’s past speeches, carried considerable weight. The UN, established to ensure international peace and security, has been paralyzed in addressing the Palestinian issue due to its structural problems and inability to move beyond great power rivalries, illustrating the crisis of the international order. Türkiye’s insistence on keeping the Palestinian issue on the global agenda is crucial for its national interests, regional balance, and the future of the international system.

While United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was calling for the restructuring of all institutions of international governance, including the U.N., in his opening speech at the 79th General Assembly, Israel was conducting its 800th air sortie against Lebanon and dropping its 2,000th bomb over Lebanon. In the aftermath of Israel’s ongoing attacks, reports state that more than 500 people, including 100 children, were killed in Lebanon.

President Biden’s final UN speech of his political career coincides with perhaps the least effective period in American diplomacy. Since October 7, the Biden administration has stood by as Israel’s actions have severely damaged American diplomatic credibility in the eyes of the “international community.”

The innocent Palestinian people have been suffering from Israeli oppression for the last eight decades. Israel has been expanding its territories at the expense of the Palestinians and occupying Palestinian lands, thereby depriving them of their natural rights. Muslim peoples and states have been reacting to the Israeli policies in Palestine, which were considered until very recently not as a problem but as a cause. The only pan-Islamic international organization, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), was established in response to developments in Palestine. According to the Charter of the OIC, once the city is liberated from Israeli occupation, Al-Quds (Jerusalem) will become the permanent headquarters of the organization.

When we look at the G7 summit communiqué, we see an extensive list of problems related to various crisis areas and challenges in the international system. From Ukraine to Taiwan, from artificial intelligence to energy, leaders have pledged support for different initiatives in many problematic areas. While the joint declaration is filled with a series of good intentions, it is difficult to say that there are clear proposals leading to solutions. Although there are references to many initiatives previously agreed upon in other platforms, it is impossible to find agreement proposals that can provide lasting solutions in crisis areas such as Ukraine, Taiwan, and Palestine. This situation highlights how difficult it is for Washington to produce concrete solutions around comprehensive strategic policies and underscores the weakness of Biden's global leadership record.

This book brings together some analyses of UN reform proposals in general and some proposals that come from the states that form regional groups to reflect their commonalities and communalities in the process.

The ongoing reform efforts have made some modest achievements but have so far failed on major issues, such as reforming the Security Council in terms of membership and voting. Türkiye feels obliged to participate in discussions and contribute to reform efforts and proposals toward better global governance.