A Thread 👇🏿 Reports indicating that the UAE is nominating its Minister of State Lana Nusseibeh to succeed António Guterres as UN Secretary-General have triggered widespread backlash from analysts, journalists and human rights advocates. Criticism primarily centres on the UAE's role in arming the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a militia that the UN has accused of g*nocide in Sudan. "The UAE has been funding genocides in Sudan; this rogue regime can't lead the UN," argued Sudanese researcher Mohamed Suliman. With Nusseibeh serving as the UAE's ambassador to the UN from 2013 to 2024, former US diplomat Cameron Hudson wrote, "It isn't just that [the] UAE has been supporting the RSF; it's that Lana has been the UAE's chief diplomat denying the fact and defending the regime," adding that her candidacy represents "an insult to 50 million Sudanese." Similar sentiments were expressed by New York Times columnist Nick Kristoff, while other journalists questioned how the UN could maintain institutional credibility while considering a candidate tied to g*nocide. "Does she side with the UN experts who've reported on UAE links to the genocidal Rapid Support Forces, or does she continue to tow the UAE line and deny it (all evidence to the contrary)?" asked Mark Leon Goldberg, editor-in-chief of UN Dispatch. "Haven’t the people of Africa suffered enough?" researcher Thomas van Linge asked. Other commentators focused on the wider implications for global governance, regional stability and the legitimacy of the UN itself. "A rather concerning development, considering her state has been consistently found meddling in foreign states' affairs by funding and backing militias," noted analyst Razan Gorti. "God save us if the Emirates succeed in making their person a UN top official," remarked analyst Pawel Wojcik. Journalist Mark Camilleri called for the UN to be defunded if Nusseibeh becomes UN chief, while anti-imperialist author Justin Podur suggested that under her helm, the position would stand for "United Nations Secretary for Genocide".