The annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York is generally reviled by New Yorkers for the traffic jams it causes, but otherwise ignored by the public at large.

One by one, heads of state typically give speeches that cause their staffs great anxiety but, for the most part—laden as they are with idealistic platitudes about the promise of the UN’s mission—disappear quickly into each day’s ocean of news never to be heard from again.

Putin’s Headed Toward Defeat in Ukraine. The Only Question Is How Bad a Loser He’ll Be.

The UNGA occasionally produces a rare newsworthy moment, but even then the 30 seconds of impact it makes on the consciousness of readers and viewers is typically immediately overshadowed—as has been the case this week in the U.S. with domestic political scandals and the appearance of the latest Kardashian baby.

Perhaps it is just as well. Because if the average person paid closer attention to what was really being discussed at the UN, or had the opportunity to listen in on some of the behind-the-scenes conversations as some of us are obligated to do, they would come away from the experience shaken not stirred.

Take for example, Tuesday’s opening speech by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “We are gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction,” he said, apparently in no mood for bland diplospeak, “The international community is not ready or willing to tackle the big dramatic challenges of our age. These crises threaten the very future of humanity and the fate of our planet. Our world is in peril—and paralyzed.”

His core point: “Our world is in big trouble.”

That point was underscored by the fact that a day later, Vladimir Putin chose to mark this UN week with a speech of his own—in which he announced not only the call-up of 300,000 conscripts to serve in the Russian army and join its disastrous invasion of Ukraine but also threatened the use of nuclear weapons.