Crisis at the fore

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier sees the purpose of the UN summit meeting this week as being "to support the new Iraqi government, which is making amends for the mistakes of the past," and trying to integrate all regions and religions in a common government. The intention, he says, is to undermine support for the jihadist group known as "Islamic State" (IS), which it has gained to date from disappointed sections of the Iraqi population.

However, Steinmeier also wants to be actively involved in New York in "organizing a collective response to Islamist terrorism, such as IS," as well as emphasizing the role Germany is playing - particularly with regard to German arms deliveries to Kurdish fighters in Iraq.

According to Heather Conley, Washington recognizes that supplying arms to the Peshmerga was "a significant foreign policy decision for Berlin." A Germany expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Conley told Deutsche Welle that she didn't believe there were any further specific expectations of Germany at present.

German soldiers against IS?

However, others on the American side see this differently. Numerous sources have told DW that the Obama government does, in fact, hope for more from Germany. In the medium term, they say there is an expectation that Berlin will participate in air strikes against IS, and, in the event of American special forces going in on the ground, that Germany will contribute to this, too.

It's very possible that Steinmeier will be confronted with these expectations in New York. The IS militias' lightning advance in northern Syria as well as the flood of Kurdish refugees crossing into neighboring Turkey will not make it easy for the German government to stick to its established position of refusing to get involved in air strikes.

Heather Conley says that, at the UN General Assembly, the American government will concentrate on further strengthening the anti-IS coalition forged at the recent conference in Paris. Right now, all eyes are on Barack Obama. As the current chair of the UN Security Council, he will personally lead the Council session on Wednesday.

Resolution against extremists

The aim is to pass a resolution obliging all states to pass national laws against so-called "foreign fighters." According to the New York Times, there are currently more than 15,000 foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria fighting alongside IS and other Islamist extremists. More than 2,000 are believed to come from Europe - several hundred of them from Germany. The resolution put forward by the United States would, the paper says, "for the first time establish international standards for nations to prevent and suppress the recruiting of their citizens by terrorist organizations." The resolution would be legally binding, although experts say implementing it across the board at the national level could be a tall order.

This is where the Germans come in. The country is an "important ally" when it comes to legitimizing US policy in the Middle East, says Jeremy Shapiro of the Washington think tank The Brookings Institution. He explains that, as a country that said "no" to military intervention in Libya and in the previous Iraq wars, Germany has international credibility. "The US will demand maximum political and rhetorical support from Germany," Shapiro predicts.

Other hotspots

In addition to the fight against "Islamic State" and the Ukraine crisis, the Ebola infection has catapulted itself to the top of the UN General Assembly's crisis agenda in recent weeks. "There needs to be international activity now, to help the countries most under threat - which at the moment are Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - to get to grips with this terrible disease," the German Foreign Minister said, adding that "For that, the northern countries, which are better medically equipped than many African states, must contribute to this." Steinmeier was referring primarily to mobile hospitals, medicine and ambulance services. He expressed his hope that, after the General Assembly, there would be a significant increase in international offers of aid.

As was the case last year, nuclear talks with Iran will be high on the agenda this time, as well. Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution writes that "Iran's annual charm offensive" is "an autumn rite of passage that has become as predictable as the start of school and the changing of the leaves." However, high expectations in recent months have, she writes, long since been replaced by anxiety. Her analysis is that it "increasingly looks to be a make-or-break moment for diplomacy with Tehran."

The UN General Assembly will therefore be dealing primarily with managing current crises - issues driven by short-term political necessity. "At the moment it looks as if the UN agenda is very strongly dictated by what affects us today and tomorrow, less so by longer-term questions," says Michael Werz from the Center for American Progress. "That also has to do with the fact that, for many countries, these longer-term strategic considerations generate discussions which may cost more money and be difficult to push through politically."

Right now, says Werz, this also applies to Germany. "That's why one has the impression that the politicians are rather shying away from it," he adds.