In this episode of Interactive Dialogues, SCR’s Executive Director Shamala Kandiah and Senior Policy Analyst Sara Bertotti sit down to discuss some of the highlights of their recently issued research report Power, Process and Participation: The Search for the Next Secretary-General. 

The report offers an analytically grounded overview of the rules, procedures, and informal practices shaping how the next UN Secretary-General will be selected and appointed. It draws lessons from the 2015/2016 process, examines dynamics and recent developments, and highlights potential challenges that may emerge while also providing options to address them.

The discussion reviews the main steps of the process as well as some of the upcoming key decisions that the Council is expected to make this month, including regarding the modalities of the Council’s meetings with the candidates and of the straw polls. 

• SCR's May In Hindsight: The Search for the Next Secretary-General 
• SCR's 2026 Research Report: Power, Process and Participation: The Search for the Next Secretary-General
• SCR's 2017 Research Report: The UN Secretary-General Selection and Appointment Process: Emerging from the Shadows
• For more information, please see our website

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Episode produced and edited by Vladimir Sesar