Is the UN at a low ebb, or is there a shift in how the world is run?

News Snapshot:

United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres at the United Nations headquarters on Monday. The UN’s officials operate in missions across the developing world, often out of the headlines. Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP For diplomats and UN veterans, the swirl of this week’s General Assembly will be tinged with nostalgia. For most of the UN’s nearly eight decades, this was its high point when world leaders met to argue over the pressing causes of the day. No longer. Despite war in Europe, a spate of coups in Africa, natural disasters blamed on climate change, and friction between China and the US, this...