The United Nations Charter recently turned 80. What should have been a seminal birthday passed by almost unnoticed in a world that desperately needs the principles enshrined in that foundational document of the UN to be upheld. Instead, the anniversary was observed by the continuing, daily violation of the Charter and the international law it sought to enshrine. Concepts that were once held sacrosanct — like sovereignty and the territorial integrity of nations — today lie in tatters. Eight decades after it emerged from the ashes of World War II with the intention of preventing a repeat, a series of conflicts — in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, among others — have left the UN looking like a well-meaning but powerless elder whose sermons the family ignores. Powerful nations that once at least pretended to adhere to the UN’s principles now routinely flout it, attacking others as and when they wish to. They trash international conventions — whether it is the United States of America on the treatment of refugees or China on the law governing maritime territories — with no fear of consequence. Smaller or developing postcolonial nations that once turned to the UN for justice and protection against unfair acts now know that it is pointless to do so.
A part of this crisis is rooted in the structure of the UN, which from its inception has been a system of haves and have-nots. The five permanent members of the Security Council enjoy veto powers that effectively ensure that they can trample on the rights of all other nations without ever being punished. UN agencies, whether the World Health Organization or the body tasked with supporting Palestinian refugees, depend on funding from member nations. Donor countries that disagree with the UN’s actions can — and do — use that to influence the policies of these agencies. And the way the UN is built, the reforms it desperately needs will need the support of those very powers that would not want to share their clout through changes in the organisation. But the world’s challenge today is as much moral as it is structural. The success of the UN was always going to depend on countries caring enough about principles of justice and fairness. When the world allows a livestreamed massacre — potentially a genocide — for two years, it is clear that they do not. If the UN appears to have failed it is because the world has failed it.