The UN’s Unhappy Birthday
The United Nations turns 75 this autumn, and if this were a normal year, many of the world’s leaders would gather in New York City to celebrate this milestone and open the annual meeting of the General Assembly.
But this year is anything but normal. There will be no gathering because of COVID-19 – and even if there were, there would be little grounds for celebration. The United Nations has fallen far short of its goals to “maintain international peace and security,” “develop friendly relations among nations,’’ and “achieve international cooperation in solving international problems.” The pandemic helps illustrate why. The UN Security Council, the most important component of the UN system, has made itself largely irrelevant. China has blocked any significant role for the UN’s executive body, lest the Chinese government be criticized for
its initial mishandling of the outbreak and be held responsible for the consequences. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization deferred to China early on and has been further weakened by the United States’ decision to withdraw from it. The result is that the major powers get the UN they want, not the one the world needs. None of this is new. During the four decades of the Cold War, the UN became a venue for U.S.-Soviet rivalry. The fact that the Cold War did not turn hot (as great power competition had twice before in the 20th century) was due less to what happened at the UN than to nuclear deterrence and a
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American Consequences
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