"Speeches by national leaders at the opening of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) have multiple goals and various audiences. Leaders of small countries hope to raise concerns with large countries in a setting where they can be the center of attention, if only for 15 minutes. Leaders of ostracized countries often seek to justify the behavior that got them ostracized in the first place."
"Both speeches utilize folks from multiple agencies and both are subject to weeks and months of internal debates about what will and will not get into the speech. While the SOTU address is as long as the President wants to make it, the UN politely asks that UNGA addresses be kept to 15 minutes or less, because so many leaders will be speaking."
"For UNGA, the State Department takes the lead (broadly speaking) in preparing drafts and posing options to the final decisionmakers in the White House. Other agencies like DOD, Treasury, Commerce, and DHS, as well as folks like the Director of National Intelligence, all weigh in and put their requests into the funnel out of which the final draft emerges."
National leaders use UNGA opening speeches to pursue multiple goals tailored to different audiences, including small states seeking attention, ostracized states justifying behavior, and leaders addressing domestic or foreign constituencies. Speeches can be directed at allies, competitors, enemies, or general international audiences. US presidential UNGA remarks receive extensive interagency preparation comparable to the State of the Union, with the State Department coordinating inputs from DOD, Treasury, Commerce, DHS, and the intelligence community. The UN requests a 15-minute limit, emphasizing concise foreign-policy messaging. Simultaneously, analysts prepare "what to listen for" guidance to detect policy continuity, nuances, or major shifts.
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