ANTALYA — President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev delivered a pointed message to the world's most powerful nations during a high-level panel at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on April 17, urging global leaders to prioritize measured, accountable governance over unchecked ambition.
The Kazakh president argued that contemporary leadership must be defined by strategic restraint, particularly when decisions carry implications for international peace and stability. "The most important thing is that global leadership and those people who are heading their own states in each part of the world must be responsible with regard to international security and peace, and then must be very much restrained," Tokayev stated. "Strategic restraint plays an extremely important role nowadays."
Tokayev pointed to an escalating pattern of regional disputes that have expanded far beyond their original geographic scope. "Regional conflicts nowadays go far beyond regional dimensions. They become global," he observed, underscoring the interconnected nature of modern geopolitical tensions.
While acknowledging the United Nations' continued importance, Tokayev was frank about the organization's shortcomings. He noted widespread recognition that the UN requires not merely support but substantive reform. "Everyone is speaking about the necessity of supporting the UN, it is true, as well as everybody saying it deserves to be not only supported but reformed," he said. "We should be very frank that nobody believes it might be the case very soon, at least."
The president traced the origins of reform discussions back years without meaningful resolution, and he named the Security Council as the central barrier impeding progress. "It is the Security Council that serves as an impediment to reforming the UN," Tokayev declared. The council's structure, which grants veto power to five permanent members, has long been cited by reform advocates as a mechanism that preserves great power interests at the expense of broader multilateral effectiveness.
Beyond institutional dysfunction, Tokayev expressed concern about the eroding influence of established international bodies and the rising prominence of emerging technologies in shaping geopolitical dynamics. He did not elaborate on specific technological implications but framed the trend as part of a broader transformation in how nations interact and exercise power.
The remarks came during a gathering that included former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, North Macedonian President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, reflecting the forum's positioning as a venue for substantive dialogue among leaders from across the Eurasian region.