- US visa gatekeeping erodes UN neutrality, blocking leaders and activists from the Global South
- Doha offers accessibility and world-class infrastructure, positioning Qatar as a serious UN hub contender
- A decentralised, multipolar UN is emerging, reflecting today’s balance of power and inclusivity
When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was prevented from attending the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, it wasn’t just a diplomatic slight. It was a symptom of a deeper problem: the United States, as host country, increasingly decides who can and cannot access the UN.
At that same session, Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro proposed relocating the UN headquarters to Qatar. A day later, Washington revoked his visa — a move widely seen as a clear violation of the organisation’s principles. His proposal was echoed by Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who suggested that Istanbul could also serve as a UN hub. These calls are not isolated; they reflect a growing sentiment across the Global South that it has had enough of a UN architecture dominated — both geographically and politically — by the North.
A global system under strain
The UN’s reliance on New York has long been symbolic. But symbolism cuts both ways. A headquarters that too often bars diplomats from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia because of US visa restrictions undermines the institution’s credibility. Abbas is only the most prominent example. Activists, human rights defenders, academics, humanitarian workers and even UN officials have been blocked from attending the very meetings meant to shape their futures.
Add to this the financial and political volatility. Under President Trump, the United States walked away from Unesco, the World Health Organisation and the Human Rights Council, while slashing funding to refugee, peacekeeping and climate programs. Even beyond Trump, US commitments rise and fall with election cycles. Europe, once a dependable partner, is also pulling back. Britain has halved its aid budget; Germany, Sweden and The Netherlands have added new conditions.
And then there’s the climate contradiction: thousands of flights across the Atlantic every year for summits that preach sustainability. The hypocrisy is hard to miss.
Why Doha?
Doha isn’t some far-fetched idea. The city already offers much of what the UN says it needs: political will, connectivity, and experience. Qatar has stepped in as a mediator in places as different as Afghanistan, West Africa, Latin America and Gaza. It has managed to host talks when others couldn’t, keeping lines of communication open in conflicts where dialogue is usually impossible. In that sense, it has been doing the kind of work the UN was meant to do.
Doha sits at the crossroads of Africa, Asia and Europe — regions where the UN is most needed. Hamad International Airport, one of the world’s finest and best connected, links directly to capitals across the Global South. That proximity would more than halve travel distances for majority delegates. And unlike America’s, Qatar’s visa policies are far less obstructive.
The infrastructure is already in place. From Hamad Port’s shipping capacity to Qatar Airways’ cargo operations, the logistics backbone for humanitarian response is world-class. The 2022 World Cup showed Qatar can host complex, high-security events on a global scale. With surplus office space, schools, hospitals and advanced digital networks, Doha is more than ready to host a permanent UN presence.
Doha is also cosmopolitan: over 100 nationalities live there in relative harmony. It’s safe, diverse and outward-looking. For international staff and families, it offers a liveable, secure and more economical option.
A multipolar global system
The point isn’t to replace New York or Geneva. It’s to recognise that the world has changed. A UN that clings to a mid-20th-century model, rooted in the North Atlantic, is fast becoming irrelevant in the 21st. A UN that decentralises — with real hubs closer to the populations it serves — can regain credibility and effectiveness. Nairobi already shows the value of a Global South hub. A Doha hub in Middle East, a region central to many of the UN’s most urgent missions, could focus on peacebuilding, preventive diplomacy and humanitarian logistics, while cutting the carbon costs of endless long-haul flights.
Symbolically, it would also rebalance global governance, signalling that the UN is not the property of a few Western powers but the shared responsibility of all.
Calls for relocation and decentralisation from leaders across Latin America, the Middle East, and beyond underscore a common frustration rooted in the fact that global governance has long been structurally skewed in favour of the North. Of course, critics will argue that moving to Doha reflects geopolitics. They’re right — and that’s the point. The UN is all about politics, and its geography does matter.
The UNSG 80 meeting demonstrated clearly that the Global South’s demand for a UN that reflects today’s balance of power, not yesterday’s. The calls from Bogotá, Ankara and elsewhere should be heard as an opportunity for the UN to embrace a more sustainable and inclusive future. A greater move out of New York would send a clear message: that the United Nations belongs to its 193 members, not just the richest or most powerful. For citizens disillusioned with multilateralism, it would mean proof that the UN is adapting to today’s realities.