Share this article:XBlueskyFacebookGet Article LinkThe contest to succeed United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has entered its decisive phase. Behind closed doors, the Security Council has begun its straw polls to identify the next head of the U.N. before Guterres’ second and final five-year term ends on Dec. 31. Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the U.N. Trade and Development agency and a former vice president of Costa Rica, has emerged as the early frontrunner, although the outcome remains uncertain. Indeed, since the U.N.’s establishment in 1945, the tortuous process of selecting a secretary-general has also been a negotiation over the office itself. Every officeholder inherits the same U.N. Charter, but none inherits the same job, for each one must redefine the role for a different international landscape.