Is the United Nations still relevant?

The relevance of the United Nations is one of the most intensely debated questions in modern international relations. The answer is best understood through a dual reality: while the UN is increasingly paralyzed on a geopolitical level, it remains absolutely indispensable on a humanitarian and operational level.

To evaluate whether the UN is still relevant, it is helpful to look at both sides of the ledger, especially as the organization navigates a critical transition period marked by the UN80 reform initiative and the conclusion of Secretary-General António Guterres’ term.

The Case Against Relevance: Why the UN is Failing

Critics argue that the UN is increasingly toothless, outdated, and sidelined by major powers. The primary arguments for its irrelevance include:

The UN’s primary mandate is the maintenance of international peace and security. However, the veto power held by the Permanent Five (P5) members of the Security Council (the US, Russia, China, the UK, and France) has effectively paralyzed the body. The Council has been unable to take decisive action to resolve major modern conflicts—such as the war in Ukraine, the crisis in Gaza, and the devastating civil war in Sudan—because one or more P5 members routinely use their veto to shield themselves or their allies.

The structure of the Security Council reflects the geopolitical realities of 1945, not the multipolar world of today. It completely excludes permanent representation from Africa, Latin America, and rising global powers like India and Brazil. Because the UN has struggled to reform this architecture, power has increasingly shifted to more agile, regional, or plurilateral forums like the G20, BRICS, and NATO, bypassing the UN altogether.

The UN has no standing army and relies entirely on the political will of its sovereign member states to enforce its resolutions. When powerful nations choose to ignore international law or General Assembly resolutions, the UN lacks the mechanism to compel compliance.

The UN has been plagued by a severe liquidity crisis, driven by member states failing to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time. This has forced the organization into intense austerity, hiring freezes, and a massive inward-looking focus on administrative streamlining (such as the ongoing UN80 initiative) rather than active global leadership.

The Case For Relevance: Why the UN is Indispensable

Despite these severe political limitations, defenders of the UN point to several areas where the organization is the only entity capable of addressing global challenges:

While the political arm of the UN may falter, its humanitarian agencies are the difference between life and death for millions. Agencies like the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), UNICEF, and the World Health Organization (WHO) deliver food, shelter, vaccines, and clean water daily to conflict zones and disaster areas where no other organization has the logistical capability or neutral mandate to operate.

The UN remains the only forum in the world where all 193 sovereign nations have a seat at the table. Even at the height of geopolitical rivalries, the UN serves as a vital "deconfliction" mechanism. It keeps rival superpowers talking when bilateral communication breaks down, preventing minor escalations from turning into global catastrophes.

The UN continues to be the primary framework for establishing international law and addressing existential, transnational threats. A prime example is the landmark Pact for the Future (adopted at the UN Summit of the Future). This framework laid down the first major global agreements on artificial intelligence governance, digital cooperation, and the rights of future generations. Similarly, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement remain the gold standards for global development and environmental action.

The UN is not blind to its flaws. Under the UN80 reform agenda—marking 80 years since the signing of the UN Charter—the organization has engaged in deep structural overhauls to merge redundant agencies, cut costs, and make its operations more agile and cost-effective.

The Road Ahead: A Critical Inflection Point

The question of the UN’s relevance is reaching a major turning point. With Secretary-General António Guterres’ final term ending on December 31, 2026, the incoming Secretary-General will inherit an organization that has successfully streamlined its administrative gears but remains strategically bottlenecked by a deeply fractured Security Council.

The ultimate test for the UN's future relevance is whether its member states will allow it to succeed. As the diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld famously noted, "The UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell."

In a world facing fragmented governance, climate change, and the rise of autonomous technologies, the international community has yet to propose any viable alternative to the UN. It remains a deeply flawed, highly frustrated, but utterly irreplaceable institution.