How the UN, founded on the ashes of world war, became a tool for hegemony—and why the world must replace it.
The Paralysis in New York
While bombs rain on Gaza and tanks roll through Ukraine, the United Nations Security Council meets. Speeches are made. Resolutions are proposed. And then—a single hand rises. The veto. Everything stops.
This theater of the absurd repeats itself endlessly, revealing a brutal truth: The UN is dead. It is not just ineffective; it is an active obstacle to justice, a shield for the powerful, and a monument to a world order that no longer exist
1. The Noble Lie: The Post-WWII Promise
The UN was born in 1945 from a simple, noble idea: “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” The victors of WWII—the U.S., USSR, UK, France, and China—anointed themselves as the permanent guardians of this peace through the Security Council’s veto power.
The idea was stability. The result was legalized imperialism.
The veto was never about fairness; it was a mechanism to ensure the new world order would always serve the interests of its architects.
2. The Tool of Hegemony: How the West Weaponized the UN
For decades, the UN has served not as a neutral referee, but as an extension of U.S. and Western foreign policy.
– Selective Enforcement: Resolutions against enemies (Iraq, Syria, Russia) are enforced with sanctions and bombs. Resolutions against allies (Israel, Saudi Arabia) are vetoed or ignored.
– The Gaza Veto: The U.S. has vetoed multiple ceasefire resolutions in Gaza, providing diplomatic cover for a genocide the ICJ has deemed “plausible.”
– The Theft of Legitimacy: By monopolizing the language of “international law” and “rules-based order,” the West uses the UN’s platform to condemn its enemies while insulating itself from accountability.
The message is clear: The “rules-based order” only has rules for those who don’t make them.
3. The Rise of the Rest: Why the Global South Has Given Up
The BRICS expansion is not just an economic bloc. It is a political revolt against a system that has consistently failed the developing world.
– Non-Alignment 2.0: Countries are no longer begging for a seat at the table; they are building a new one. They are trading in local currencies, forming their own security alliances, and ignoring Western sanctions.
– The Credibility Crash: When the UN watches on as hospitals are bombed and children starve—and can do nothing—it doesn’t just look weak. It looks complicit.
As the professor stated, the UN now operates in a “parallel world,” issuing reports that change nothing for the Ukrainian soldier or the Gazan child.
4. The Path Forward: What Must Replace the UN?
The problem is not the idea of international cooperation. The problem is the corrupt, outdated structure of the current body. Any new organization must learn from the UN’s failures.
1. No Permanent Veto Power: A rotating leadership model based on regional representation, not 80-year-old wartime alliances.
2. Geographical Decentralization: Headquarters must be distributed across continents (e.g., Asia, Africa, South America) to prevent cultural and political capture by a single host nation.
3. Focus on Development, Not Intervention: Shift from mandating wars to facilitating trade, climate justice, and infrastructure development for the Global South.
4. A Army of the Global South: A peacekeeping force answerable to the general assembly, not the security council of a few powers.
This isn’t a fantasy. It is the necessary institutional foundation for a truly multipolar world.
Conclusion: The Funeral and the Foundation
The United Nations is a corpse. We are just waiting for the world to stop pretending it’s alive.
Its failure is a tragedy, but also an opportunity: to build a new institution that reflects the world of today, not the world of 1945. An institution that serves all of humanity, not just its most powerful members.
The first step is to stop hoping for the UN to reform. The second is to start building what comes next.
