Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Kamal Madbouly told the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday that the international order must be overhauled and his country is uniquely positioned to provide guidance, thanks to its combined “Arab, African, and Mediterranean heritage.”
Madbouly’s lengthy speech broadly outlined various problems but rarely explained exactly who, or what, he was talking about. His solutions were equally vague, but invariably involved some sort of U.N.-managed multilateral framework that would not require equal contributions or sacrifices from all parties. He was consistently elusive about who would be paying the bills to achieve “fairness” in technology, economics, and global influence.
“It is no coincidence that the countries of the Global South, which comprise the overwhelming majority of the world’s population, are among those most harmed by the decline of the rule of international law, the weakening role of international organizations, and the fragility of global governance and international cooperation frameworks,” he said.
The Egyptian prime minister alluded to several current conflicts, but he only criticized one country by name: Israel. As with other Middle Eastern leaders, he was harshly critical of Israel’s conduct in the Gaza War, but studiously avoided mentioning who started it. He hinted at other regional hotspots, but the only one he named was Sudan.
Madbouly claimed the “Palestinian issue” was the “clearest example of the existing dysfunction” of the international system.
“What the Palestinian people have endured, and continue to endure in terms of suffering, repression, and violations, must not become a normalized reality or a protracted crisis,” he said.
Madbouly said President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza was the ideal road map for resolving the current crisis, but he accused Israel of “daily violations” that had to be ended. He also accused the Israelis of plotting to displace the entire Palestinian population and said Egypt was “categorically opposed” to any such operation.
“The international community as a whole bears a clear responsibility to stop systematic Israeli violations of international law. Peace cannot be built on uprooting a people from their land, believing that stability can be achieved in the region while ignoring the suffering of the Palestinian people, and merely managing the occupation rather than ending it is nothing but an illusion,” he said.
“The goal remains unequivocally clear: the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and territorially contiguous Palestinian state on the lines of the 4th of June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he demanded – the only instance in his address where he called for a specific solution to a problem, instead of vaguely encouraging the formation of fair and balanced multilateral committees to study it.
Madbouly demanded “inalienable rights” for the Palestinians, rather than rights that could be “used as bargaining chips, to be granted or withheld according to power balances, political posturing, or electoral calculations.”
Madbouly said that a nation should not build its security on “the insecurity of its neighbors, or upon threats to shipping, trade, and energy routes, or violations of state sovereignty through attacks carried out in violation of international law,” as he transitioned to oblique criticism of Iran and its Houthi proxies in Yemen.
“Likewise, any regional actor that believes that its political or economic interests can be achieved by undermining national state institutions, supporting militias, or promoting separatist agendas and civil conflict clearly becomes part of the problem,” he said.
More important to Madbouly’s agenda was the issue of Egypt’s water security, which Egypt believes is threatened by Ethiopia’s recent construction of hydropower dams.
“The Nile is not merely an economic resource. It is the lifeline upon which the existence and development of Egyptian society have depended throughout history,” he said.
“We do not oppose the right of any people to development,” he insisted. “Rather, we defend a clear and just principle that the development of one party must not be built upon causing harm to others. Shared resources cannot be managed through unilateral measures or fait accompli policies.”
Madbouly briefly mentioned the long and brutal civil war in Sudan and said Egypt was a “strong supporter” of the Sudanese people, but he offered no hint as to a solution and did not endorse either of the warring factions, although Egypt has previously expressed support for the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) under Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and dismissed his former coup partners in the RSF militia as illegitimate.
Madbouly called for restructuring the U.N. Security Council (UNSC), saying its current composition of five permanent members – the United States, China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom – reflects “historical balances that have become outdated.”
Madbouly complained the existing structure of the U.N. perpetuates the “historical injustice suffered by Africa,” and said developing nations currently lack “fair” access to the world’s financial institutions. He was particularly keen on the idea of debt restructuring and forgiveness for Third World countries, arguing that “countries should not be forced to choose between debt servicing and financing, education, health care, food security, and essential infrastructure.”
“Development is not charity. It is a right and a shared interest,” he said.
Like other representatives of developing nations, the Egyptian prime minister was also worried about getting left behind in the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, which “opens boundless horizons for growth, knowledge, innovation, and improved services,” but could also “create a vast new divide in wealth and power linked to computing capacity, data models skills, and financing.”
To reduce that risk, Madbouly demanded “the establishment of governance frameworks for artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, on the basis that technology is a global public benefit, and not an exclusive privilege enjoyed by a limited number of states or corporations.”
Madbouly also wanted AI to “reflect the cultural diversity of the world” by giving “fair representation” to Arab and African languages and cultures.
In other words, the Egyptian prime minister wants global wealth and technology redistribution, and imagines Africa – including his country – would be on the receiving end of that process. He likewise encouraged climate change policy as a tool for “development, poverty reduction, and job creation,” to be financed by the world’s established industrial powers.
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