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Annalena Baerbock with Jon Stewart.
Daily Show
An unusual appearance on US television: Annalena Baerbock was a guest on Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" - and used the stage to promote diplomacy and the United Nations.
She was the role model for the ZDF "heute-show"; the US satire program "The Daily Show" is one of the best-known late-night formats in the country and regularly reaches an audience of millions. On Monday evening, presenter Jon Stewart welcomed a surprising talk show guest: former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. The Green politician had been invited in her capacity as President of the UN General Assembly.
It was an office that many viewers were hardly familiar with, joked Stewart. Baerbock, who had moved to New York for her one-year term of office in September 2025, used the appearance to explain the work of the United Nations. She described the cooperation with 193 states with a comparison: "Imagine bringing your family together at the table for Thanksgiving - and you have a cranky uncle, a hippie mother, and then they all have to sing together from the same songbook." Her job is to defend this "songbook" - meaning the principles of the UN Charter such as peace, security, sustainable development and human rights. For her, it is "crystal clear" that the Charter is "life insurance for everyone".
The conversation also touched on the limits of international cooperation. When Stewart asked whether it was the crazy uncle or the hippie mother who had the nuclear weapons, Baerbock evaded the question and explained: "Frankly, in history it was rarely women who had the atomic bomb." Instead, she referred to the founding idea of the United Nations. These were "not intended to take humanity to heaven, but to save humanity from hell".
Stewart was particularly surprised that these words came from a German, of all people, in view of the historical responsibility. Alluding to the Holocaust, he remarked that the sentence probably sounds particularly poignant in German. "Unfortunately, that was my country," Baerbock replied. "And we have learned our lessons."
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At the same time, Baerbock made it clear how difficult diplomatic processes have become. In the UN Security Council, the five permanent members often blocked each other with vetoes. One example cited was a vote on the Strait of Hormuz, in which Russia and China voted against a corresponding resolution. This constellation meant that conflicts could not be resolved and the credibility of the United Nations suffered. That is why there are initiatives to shift key issues more to the General Assembly, "where all 193 member states are represented".
Current conflicts were also discussed. In this context, Baerbock praised the work of the United Nations. After a debate on the effects of the war in Iran and rising oil prices, further negotiations were held and finally an "albeit fragile ceasefire" was reached. Baerbock emphasized the importance of diplomatic solutions: "Hopefully everyone now understands that no one can win if we do not return to diplomatic relations."
Baerbock also turned her attention to the future of the United Nations. As President of the General Assembly, she is overseeing the process of electing a new UN Secretary-General. For the first time, a woman could become the head of the organization. In view of the billions of potential female candidates, it is "really difficult to explain" why there have been none so far.
