Is the United Nations still relevant?

The question of whether the UN is "still relevant" is hotly debated right now, with genuine arguments on both sides.

The Case for Declining Relevance

Critics point to a mounting record of paralysis and failure:

•Security Council gridlock: In 2024, the permanent members cast eight vetoes on seven draft resolutions, the most since 1986. In 2025, vetoes again blocked meaningful action on Gaza and Ukraine, and the Council adopted only 44 resolutions, the lowest figure since 1991. Wars in Sudan, Myanmar, Gaza, and Ukraine have unfolded before a body structurally incapable of acting whenever a permanent member, or its close ally, is a party to the conflict.

•Historical failures: In Rwanda, the UN ignored warnings and withdrew peacekeepers during the genocide, allowing more than 800,000 Tutsis to be killed. A year later, UN Dutch peacekeepers failed to stop the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men in Srebrenica, a supposedly UN "safe area."

•Structural obsolescence: The organization's architecture hasn't kept pace with the world it serves — the UN now counts 193 member states, nearly four times the original number, the global population has more than tripled, and the entire continent of Africa was largely under colonial rule when the Charter was signed. Yet roughly 70 percent of the Security Council's agenda now concerns Africa, and Africa does not hold a single permanent seat on that Council.

•Financial crisis: The United States owes roughly $1.5 billion in unpaid assessments, arrears that have since climbed above $2 billion, while Secretary-General António Guterres has warned bluntly of a "race to bankruptcy," proposing a 15 percent cut to the UN's regular budget for 2026. The U.S. has followed through — the U.S. cut the UN budget for the first time ever, slashing it by 15 percent in 2026 and eliminating more than 4,000 positions from the UN bureaucracy.

•Rising great-power disdain: Tensions among major powers are escalating in ways that bypass the UN entirely — the U.S. strike on Venezuela and President Trump's threats to take Greenland have raised the stakes, situations that can quickly escalate into great power confrontation, and the launch of a new U.S.-led Board of Peace is a fairly clear effort to offer a U.S.-dominated alternative to a languishing U.N. Security Council.

The Case for Continued Relevance

Despite this, most serious analysts stop short of declaring the UN obsolete:

•Unique institutional role: The UN remains the only universal forum for global cooperation on war and peace, even as the international order it anchors is under mounting strain.

•The Security Council still matters, even if flawed: As Richard Gowan points out, the council remains a place where compromise is possible, including on the big issues.

•Humanitarian delivery: One NPR analysis summed it up this way: "I would say it is barely still relevant, most importantly because its operational humanitarian agencies are delivering lifesaving assistance to millions and millions around the world."

•The real debate has shifted: As the UN's own General Assembly President put it at a recent session, the recurring question is not whether the United Nations should exist, but whether it can produce results — "Outside these walls, people are not asking whether the United Nations still exists. They are asking whether it works."

Bottom Line

The honest answer is: it's weakened, not dead. The UN's peace-and-security machinery — especially the Security Council — is genuinely struggling, hamstrung by great-power vetoes and funding crises, and 2025-2026 has seen some of the worst paralysis in decades. But its humanitarian, development, and specialized agencies (WFP, WHO, UNHCR, etc.) continue functioning at massive scale, and no alternative universal forum exists to replace it. Whether it remains relevant going forward likely depends on whether the incoming Secretary-General and the P5 can find a way to push for the permanent five members of the Security Council to engage in a constructive and sustained fashion within the organization as it is currently constituted — or whether rival structures like the mentioned "Board of Peace" start to eclipse it.

Citations (13)

1assodesire.comNot yet classified
Is the United Nations still relevant? Does the world still need it?
Source excerpt: “In 2024, the permanent members cast eight vetoes on seven draft resolutions, the most since 1986. In 2025, vetoes again blocked meaningful action on G...”
2assodesire.comNot yet classified
Is the United Nations still relevant? Does the world still need it?
Source excerpt: “Wars in Sudan, Myanmar, Gaza, and Ukraine have unfolded before a body structurally incapable of acting whenever a permanent member, or its close ally,...”
3countercurrents.orgNot yet classified
The Decline and Fall of the United Nations: Is the UN Still Relevant?
Source excerpt: “In Rwanda, the UN ignored warnings and withdrew peacekeepers during the genocide, allowing more than 800,000 Tutsis to be killed. A year later, UN Dut...”
4assodesire.comNot yet classified
Is the United Nations still relevant? Does the world still need it?
Source excerpt: “The UN now counts 193 member states, nearly four times the original number. The global population has more than tripled, from 2.5 billion to over 8 bi...”
5assodesire.comNot yet classified
Is the United Nations still relevant? Does the world still need it?
Source excerpt: “Yet roughly 70 percent of the Security Council’s agenda now concerns Africa, and Africa does not hold a single permanent seat on that Council. ”
6assodesire.comNot yet classified
Is the United Nations still relevant? Does the world still need it?
Source excerpt: “The United States owes roughly $1.5 billion in unpaid assessments, arrears that have since climbed above $2 billion, while China has run hundreds of m...”
7un.orgGovernment
Reform, or lose trust: Governments press the UN to reflect the world as it is
Source excerpt: “The **United States** offered a contrasting model based on institutional retrenchment: “We cut the UN budget for the first time ever, slashing it by 1...”
8unu.eduAcademic
To Stay Relevant in 2026, the U.N. Must Look Outward
Source excerpt: “Now, the U.S. strike on Venezuela and President Donald Trump’s threats to take Greenland have raised the stakes even higher. These situations can quic...”
9crisisgroup.orgNonprofits and think tanks
Ten Challenges for the UN in 2026-2027
Source excerpt: “** The UN remains the only universal forum for global cooperation on war and peace, even as the international order it anchors is under mounting strai...”
10unu.eduAcademic
To Stay Relevant in 2026, the U.N. Must Look Outward
Source excerpt: “As Richard Gowan points out, the council remains a place where compromise is possible, including on the big issues. ”
11npr.orgNews and mediaquality 0.93
Does the UN have a future? : NPR
Source excerpt: “I would say it is barely still relevant, most importantly because its operational humanitarian agencies are delivering lifesaving assistance to millio...”
12un.orgGovernment
Reform, or lose trust: Governments press the UN to reflect the world as it is
Source excerpt: “A recurring question throughout the debate was not whether the United Nations should exist, but whether it can produce results. **General Assembly Pr...”
13unu.eduAcademic
To Stay Relevant in 2026, the U.N. Must Look Outward
Source excerpt: “Its leadership—including the incoming secretary-general, who will take office after incumbent Antonio Guterres’ term ends on Dec. 31—should concentrat...”