Zehrish Iqbal
The United Nations was established after World War II, driven by a simple but powerful idea to make a world that values peace, trust and humanity. During few decades of creation UN represented a hope that everyone looked up. It was a symbol of proof that countries could work together for global peace. But now, as global power spreads out across more countries, the UN’s credibility is in danger. It keeps failing to stop or respond to major humanitarian disasters, and people are starting to wonder if UN is still relevant to today’s changing power dynamic world.
History provides strong evidence. For example, in 1994 in Rwanda, almost one million people were killed while international community hesitated. Additionally, UN-protected civilians were massacred in Srebrenica. Furthermore, Darfur in the 2000s and Myanmar after 2016, were ignored until it became too late. These aren’t just tragic headlines, but they are reminders that the UN has often missed its main objective: protecting innocent people when they need it most.
Then there is Gaza, where violence drags on and civilians suffer while the world watches. Where UN inaction and failure to stop Isreal from Genocide. Although UN’s own officials have sounded the alarm, but nothing seems to have changed. Young generations especially see all this and start to believe the UN is either powerless or just choose when to act. For a lot of countries, the threat is not theoretical anymore: if international law and big institutions cannot hold powerful nations in check, then everyone is at risk.
Although, UN general secretary António Guterres tries to set new agendas to boost security and peace but there is little hope in new emerging multilateral world. As the main problem is rooted in the structure of UN and how it works, which is still stuck into the world of post-world. That is why the Security Council, the part of the UN that is supposed to keep the peace, has five permanent members with veto power. It is an old system that does not match today’s reality.
As mentioned the secretary general tries to pull new agendas and talks about climate, diplomacy, and humanitarian change. But honestly, these efforts keep running into the same wall: the UN’s outdated rules. The veto is a big part of what is holding the UN back. Since 1946, countries have used it over 300 times, usually to block action in crises where powerful states or their friends are involved.
So, instead of protecting people or preventing wars, the Security Council gets stuck. This leaves a bad taste; it makes it look like the rules only matter when the big players say so. Now, with power shifts away from the West and spreads among new regional and middle powers, the UN’s old structure become even more disconnected from today’s reality.
Conflicts like the Iran-Israel standoff show how local tensions can cause problem to the whole world when international institutions cannot step in. New world orders don not rely on money, weapons, or old reputations anymore. Yet the UN is still built around that fading idea. What does all this mean? Well, when smaller countries start to feel like their security is always second place, they stop trusting the system.
Some go off and form new alliances or take matters into their own hands, which just makes the world more unpredictable and dangerous. Ironically, this is the opposite of what the UN was supposed to do. So, the UN has to face new realties. If it really stands for democracy and human rights, it needs to show that inside its own system first.
It needs to build democracy within. People have been calling for real changes to the Security Council, like adding new permanent members, limiting the veto when mass atrocities are happening, or giving the General Assembly more power.
These aren’t easy fixes, but without them, the UN cannot rebuild trust. If the UN confronts its structural inefficiencies and adapts to today’s realities, it can still be the place where countries come together to solve problems and protect people. If it does not, it will fade into irrelevance.
The author is a BS scholar of Social Development Studies at Aga Khan University. She is interested in social issues, development, and how policies affect people’s lives. She likes learning about world, writing, and wants to contribute to public discussions on sustainability and social change.
