Individualism, nationalism, religious and ethnic prejudice, information manipulation and terrorism all destroy the fabric of society, said UN Secretary General António Guterres. 

Another example of similarity cited by the UN chief was the rise of totalitarianism in the 1930s. “We are not in the same situation,” he acknowledged, “but what we are seeing today is the polarization of political life and of society itself, which is leading to a dangerous erosion of fundamental rights and freedoms, democratic principles and the rule of law”. 

“A weakening of the democratic spirit of compromise and an indifference to collective rules are twin poisons for multilateralism,” UN reported quoting him.

He citied a divided UN Security Council over the Syrian conflict, increasing “trade confrontrations,” and the “crisis of confidence” faced by the European Union as prime examples.

“The multilateral framework has also shown itself to be indispensable in resolving nuclear proliferation crises,” the UN chief added, referring to the Security Council’s unity in dealing with the Iranian and North Korean situations, which enabled negotiated solutions both in 2015 and in 2018.