# The General Assembly circus

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The General Assembly circus," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-general-assembly-circus/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's view of the annual United Nations General Assembly, which he calls the Super Bowl for global politics and which he disliked more than almost anything else in his CIA career. His last tour was at the United Nations in New York, where the September session brings the city to a halt and makes the American mission almost unreachable.*

- **Kiriakou's last CIA tour:** The United Nations, New York
- **When it happens:** Every September
- **His verdict:** One of the things he hated most, as analyst and operations officer
- **Historical set pieces he cites:** Khrushchev's shoe, Castro's six-hour speech, Gaddafi's tent in Central Park

**The General Assembly circus** is [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s characterisation of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York, which he encountered from both sides of his [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) career.

## Why he hated it

Asked about it in July 2026, Kiriakou was unequivocal: as an analyst and as an operations officer alike, the General Assembly was one of the things he hated the most. It takes place every September and it brings the city to a screeching halt.[1]

The complaint is partly logistical and partly personal, because his last tour in his CIA career was at the United Nations in New York. During the session it is hard even to get within blocks of the American mission to the United Nations — *"it's just ridiculous."*[2]

## The theatre

What draws the crowd, in his framing, is not the diplomacy but the stage. World leaders descend on New York from all over the planet: *"It's the Super Bowl for global politics. It's also a big deal in terms of global drama, where international leaders love to get the chance to stage on the world stage."*[3]

He reaches for three canonical performances to make the point: Nikita Khrushchev pounding his shoe on the table, Fidel Castro giving a six-hour speech, and Muammar Gaddafi coming to New York and sleeping in a tent in Central Park because he wanted to be like one of the common people.[3]

The feud he expected to dominate the 2026 session was between Benjamin Netanyahu and the mayor of New York, who had said publicly over the preceding ten days that he would try to have Netanyahu arrested.[4]

## See also

- [Central Intelligence Agency](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)
- [The Qatari 747](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-qatari-seven-forty-seven)

## Sources

1. This is Why Iran's Missiles Will Keep Coming | Ep. 3 (2026-07-21), at 20:51. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkRAo0eDnK0&t=1251s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-21-john-kiriakou-this-is-why-iran-s-missiles-will/
2. This is Why Iran's Missiles Will Keep Coming | Ep. 3 (2026-07-21), at 21:21. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkRAo0eDnK0&t=1281s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-21-john-kiriakou-this-is-why-iran-s-missiles-will/
3. This is Why Iran's Missiles Will Keep Coming | Ep. 3 (2026-07-21), at 21:52. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkRAo0eDnK0&t=1312s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-21-john-kiriakou-this-is-why-iran-s-missiles-will/
4. This is Why Iran's Missiles Will Keep Coming | Ep. 3 (2026-07-21), at 22:23. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkRAo0eDnK0&t=1343s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-21-john-kiriakou-this-is-why-iran-s-missiles-will/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-general-assembly-circus/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt