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UNITED NATIONS — <\/span>Four candidates to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations will audition for the job this week, far fewer than there were 10 years ago when Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a> was selected as U.N. chief. <\/p>\n Chile\u2019s former President Michelle Bachelet \u2014 one of two women and one of three from Latin America \u2014 will be the first to face ambassadors from the U.N.\u2019s 193 member nations during a three-hour question-and-answer session on Tuesday. Bachelet will be followed by U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina. <\/p>\n On Wednesday, U.N. trade chief Rebeca Grynspan will take center stage in the General Assembly hall, and finally, Senegal\u2019s former President Macky Sall.<\/p>\n In 2016, a hotly contested race drew 13 candidates. What has changed? <\/p>\n For starters, the deeply polarized and conflict-wracked world of 2026 is far different from the more peaceful global climate in 2016, the year Donald Trump was elected president for the first time.<\/p>\n Add to that the diminished stature of the United Nations<\/a>. A decade ago, the world organization was basking in its success in helping achieve the Paris climate agreement to curb global warming and an agreement by world leaders on 17 goals to promote global economic growth, preserve the environment and close the growing gap between rich and poor nations.<\/p>\n Today, the divisions among world powers are so deep that the U.N. has been unable to fulfill its primary role in ensuring global peace and security. The once powerful Security Council has been blocked from acting to halt wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran, among other conflicts, leaving the U.N. on the sidelines of major global crises.<\/p>\n The International Crisis Group\u2019s Richard Gowan, a U.N. watcher and program director, said the current geopolitical scene has affected the race to succeed Guterres, whose second five-year term ends on Dec. 31.<\/p>\n He said 10 years ago, many candidates entered the race knowing they had little chance of winning, but used it to raise their profiles.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no real cost associated with losing,\u201d Gowan said. (asterisk)This time around, potential candidates and the governments who sponsor them are much more cautious. There is a feeling that if a candidate puts a foot wrong and offends Washington or Beijing, it could cause real diplomatic damage.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2016, there was intense pressure to choose the first woman to lead the United Nations. Seven of the 13 candidates were women. But there was widespread agreement that Guterres performed best in what the U.N. calls the \u201cinteractive dialogue\u201d with General Assembly members.<\/p>\n The U.N. Charter says little about choosing the secretary-general<\/a> except that the General Assembly, which includes all members, should do so upon the recommendation of the Security Council. That gives the five permanent members of the U.N.\u2019s most powerful body \u2014 the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France \u2014 the decision-making role and veto power over the selection. <\/p>\n By tradition, the secretary-general rotates by region. Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. refugee chief representing Europe, succeeded former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who represented Asia. He followed Ghana\u2019s Kofi Annan, who represented Africa.<\/p>\n Now, it should be Latin America\u2019s turn, though Eastern Europe has never had a secretary-general and lost out in 2016.<\/p>\n Under U.N. rules, candidates must be nominated by a member nation \u2014 not necessarily their own. There is no time limit for nominations, and more candidates could appear, but in 2016 the Security Council started doing \u201cstraw polls\u201d among the 13 candidates in late July, which basically served as a cutoff. <\/p>\n During their sessions this week, the four candidates are likely to be asked about their vision for the job, global hot spots and the future of the United Nations \u2014 but anything goes.<\/p>\n Bachelet<\/a>, 74, who was the U.N. high commissioner for human rights after serving two non-consecutive terms as Chile’s president, was initially nominated by Chile, Brazil and Mexico. But after Chile\u2019s far-right leader, Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast, became president in March, his government withdrew its support for Bachelet, a leftist, though she remains a candidate because of nominations from Brazil and Mexico.<\/p>\n Grossi<\/a>, 65, a former Argentine diplomat who has been director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2019, was nominated by his home country. <\/p>\n Grynspan<\/a>, 70, a former vice president of Costa Rica, has been secretary-general of the U.N. Trade and Development agency, UNCTAD, since 2021 and was also nominated by her country.<\/p>\n Sall,<\/a> 64, was nominated by Burundi, but his home country, Senegal, told the African Union that it had not endorsed him. Neither did the divided 55-nation regional organization.<\/p>\n A fifth candidate, Argentine diplomat Virginia Gamba, a former U.N. representative for children in armed conflict, was nominated by the Maldives, but the Indian Ocean nation withdrew her candidacy in late March without giving a reason.<\/p>\n While there are only two female candidates, pressure for a madam secretary-general continues, including from Guterres, who has sought to achieve gender equality in his administration. Britain and France have also said they would like to see a woman at the helm.<\/p>\n