Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This year, 193 member states will elect a new secretary-general of the United Nations. Over the next eight episodes, we’ll ask how the next secretary-general might actually make a difference on issues from economic turbulence and superpower rivalries to artificial intelligence, inequality, and climate change. But today, we’re starting off with the most basic question: What kind of leader does the UN need right now?
Host Jasmin Baoumy is joined by Thant Myint-U, a senior fellow at the UN Foundation; Susana Malcorra, the president and co-founder of GWL Voices; and Mark Malloch-Brown, a former UN deputy secretary-general and administrator of the UN Development Programme.
World’s Toughest Job is a co-production of Foreign Policy and the @unfoundation
Explore ideas, essentials, and commentary on the future of global cooperation and the UN secretary-general race at regroupplaybook.org
Follow and listen to more episodes of World’s Toughest Job: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worlds-toughest-job/id1894846765
Subscribe to all of Foreign Policy’s Podcasts at foreignpolicy.com/podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts
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This year, 193 member states will elect a new secretary-general of the United Nations. Over the next eight episodes, we’ll ask how the next secretary-general might actually make a difference on issues from economic turbulence and superpower rivalries to artificial intelligence, inequality, and climate change. But today, we’re starting off with the most basic question: What kind of leader does the UN need right now?
Host Jasmin Baoumy is joined by Thant Myint-U, a senior fellow at the UN Foundation; Susana Malcorra, the president and co-founder of GWL Voices; and Mark Malloch-Brown, a former UN deputy secretary-general and administrator of the UN Development Programme.
World’s Toughest Job is a co-production of Foreign Policy and the @unfoundation
Explore ideas, essentials, and commentary on the future of global cooperation and the UN secretary-general race at regroupplaybook.org
Follow and listen to more episodes of World’s Toughest Job: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worlds-toughest-job/id1894846765
Subscribe to all of Foreign Policy’s Podcasts at foreignpolicy.com/podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts
Subscribe to Foreign Policy's YouTube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC1x_EgZtYkAzVavuONBrLZQ?sub_confirmation=1
Visit foreignpolicy.com to read the latest global news and analysis from FP.
Follow Foreign Policy:
X - twitter.com/ForeignPolicy
Instagram - instagram.com/foreignpolicymag
Facebook - facebook.com/foreign.policy.magazine
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/foreign-policy-magazine
TikTok - tiktok.com/@foreignpolicymagazine
