At 75 UN Needs Rebirth

Context: On the 75th anniversary of the United Nations (U.N.), there must be a global push against ‘biased rules’ which have privileged ‘rule’ of the few over the many. 

Issues with the U.N.:

• A tussle between ‘principles’ and ‘power’:

• On the one hand, the U.N. represents hopes of peaceful and just world order through multilateral cooperation, abidance by international law, and uplift of the downtrodden. 
• On the other, the institution has been designed to privilege the most powerful states by granting them veto power and permanent seats in the Security Council (UNSC).
• Failed collective command model: While the model built into the UNSC was one of the reasons that prevented a plausible third world war, this model has also become unsustainable.
• The decline of Unipolarity and Rise of multipolarity: has threatened the ‘benign hegemony’ of the United States.
• A New Cold War: depicting a clash between China and the U.S. and involving tensions among other players like Russia, Turkey, Iran and Israel.
• Failed to cooperate against the pandemic due to underlying divisions and their spillover effects; The U.N. Secretary-General lamented - “The U.N. is only as strong as its members’ commitment to its ideals.”
• It has failed to achieve collective security mandate due to the phenomenon of competitive vetoing and blocking of reforms by the P-5 (China, France, Russia, the U.K., & the U.S.) countries at the UNSC.

Conclusion: Reforming the U.N. is the only way to restore the balance between ‘power’ and ‘principle’ and ensure a renaissance of the U.N.