United Nations Turning 75: Does The UN Still Have A Leading Role on the World Stage

Today, New York is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. It is a little celebration because the corona crisis prevents world leaders from travelling to New York to sing together on the anniversary.

 

Within the UN, tensions have also increased in recent years due to increased competition between the big and strong countries in the world. The cooperation model for solving problems in the world, the basis of the UN, is therefore under pressure.

In March, when corona infections began to ravage all countries in the world, and the disease became a pandemic, UN Secretary-General Guterres called for a general ceasefire. The members of the UN Security Council discussed a resolution for 3 months to record the call of the UN top man.

The resolution was only adopted in the Security Council on 1 July. At the beginning of April, various parties involved in armed conflicts in eleven countries responded positively to Guterres’ appeal.

But because the deliberations in the UN Security Council took so long, those warring parties had simply picked up the thread again.

For example, the UN was and is primarily sidelined in the greatest crisis since the Second World War. The UN was founded just after that world war to avoid a new one.

The organization has been able to achieve this goal over the past 75 years, but there does not seem to be much reason to celebrate. Increasing tensions in the world are increasingly undermining the UN’s basic idea: that cooperation leads to a better world.