Other high-level meetings in and around the U.N. in the coming days will focus on Afghanistan, Egypt, Mali, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On Thursday, Sudan’s President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir may appear at the podium. Since the International Criminal Court indicted him for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur in 2009, and formally charged him with genocide the following year, his international travel has been curtailed.

The Sudanese president has indicated he hopes to attend the General Assembly debate. As the host country of the United Nations, the United States is obliged to grant him a visa to travel here. But if he does take the podium, that will outrage many members of the international community who have called for his arrest.

More than 130 heads of state or their representatives - one of the largest contingents in U.N. history - are scheduled to attend the General Assembly meetings.