Is the United Nations still relevant?

Is the UN still relevant? I'll weigh its recent record against the criticisms over veto paralysis and major conflicts.

Is the United Nations still relevant? The short answer from most world leaders, diplomats and public opinion polling is: Yes, but increasingly contested — indispensable yet in urgent need of reform.

The debate intensified as the UN approached its 80th anniversary on Oct. 24, 2025.

1. Why many say it is still relevant

a) The only universal forum: If relevance is measured by political participation, the UN remains central. As one analysis noted, its more than 190 member states, with only a few exceptions, send heads of state to the General Assembly, which is a clear indicator that the United Nations is widely viewed to be politically relevant and an important platform for shaping international discourse. In closing remarks at the 80th General Debate, Germany's President of the General Assembly said that if high-level week is any indication, the United Nations is still relevant.

World leaders at the 2025 debate voiced support for the UN's unifying function, and speakers at the General Assembly debate described it as still essential but needing to be 'fit for purpose'.

Public opinion also supports that view. Most publics in the 25-nation 2025 Pew Global Attitudes Survey hold net-positive views of the United Nations.

Some 80 years later, the United Nations is still the world's primary multilateral organization, harmonizing and coordinating international action in fields ranging from peacekeeping to economic development to trade.

b) Humanitarian and operational work:

Millions of lives have been saved thanks to humanitarian assistance provided and coordinated by the United Nations.

In 2024 alone, the UN coordinated a $50 billion appeal for 198 million people and helped to mobilize $25 billion, enabling life-saving assistance to reach 116 million people in urgent need across 77 countries and territories, including in the Horn of Africa, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen and disaster zones.

More than 50,000 peacekeepers are currently deployed across the globe where their mandated tasks include protecting civilians, supporting elections, delivering humanitarian assistance and clearing landmines.

The UN also remains the framework for major global agreements: agencies such as WFP and UNHCR deliver relief, while the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 established a shared framework for global development, and the Paris Agreement from the COP process is still used to create climate policies.

c) Preventing great-power war: One Chicago Council argument is that the UN is still relevant if one keeps in mind the core purpose of its founding: to prevent another world war between the great powers - best thought of not as a "Parliament of Man" but as a "Concert of Great Powers". By that metric, it has succeeded - no direct World War III between P5 states.

2. Why many say its relevance is eroding

a) Security Council paralysis and the veto:

Critics say the Security Council's outdated composition undermines its legitimacy and the increasing use of the veto inhibits its functionality — as seen in its paralysis over the wars in Gaza, Iran, and Ukraine.

Veto powers often block resolutions, causing inaction in crises such as Syria, Gaza, and Ukraine. More specifically, the failure to prevent or stop the war in Ukraine and Israel's operations in Gaza highlighted the Security Council's limitations.

A recent analysis described the UN as going through a historically critical phase, as great-power rivalry undermines its authority, paralyzed by veto rights in conflicts such as those in Ukraine and Gaza.

Secretary-General António Guterres has described the Security Council as an "outdated," "unfair," and "ineffective system" that has hindered its ability to effectively address conflicts in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, with the veto consistently blocking action. The Council's response to Syria - where Russia, sometimes joined by China, used its veto sixteen times - is often cited as precedent, and Russia has most frequently used the veto, blocking 162 resolutions since founding, while the U.S. has used it 95 times, often to protect Israel.

A General Assembly debate noted frustration that meetings on Ukraine and Gaza had little tangible impact, warning that ignoring negative perceptions of the veto risks rendering the UN irrelevant.

b) Legitimacy and funding crisis:

When measured by its ability to deliver impactful, material solutions the UN's relevance looks far worse. It has been radically diminished by the United States' decision to delay critical budgetary support and put caps on contributions to peacekeeping, creating a downward spiral as other states, especially China, delay support. The U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization has disrupted progress on climate and health.

The most fundamental challenge to relevance is linked to perceptions of legitimacy, which for many has been irretrievably compromised - with Russia blatantly violating Ukraine's sovereignty, China refusing to condemn it, and the U.S. seen as hypocritical in supporting Israel's actions in Gaza.

As one outside assessment put it: a recurring question was not whether the UN should exist, but whether it can produce results.

3. The reform debate - can relevance be restored?

There is broad consensus that reform is necessary.

The 2024 Pact for the Future committed member states to 56 actions, including proposals to make the Security Council more representative, correcting the historic under-representation of Africa. Adopted as resolution 79/1 on 22 September 2024, it carries the strongest language on Council reform ever agreed, committing to redress "the historical injustice against Africa" as a priority.

The Pact outlines UNSC reform in Actions 39-41, acknowledging need for a "representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic, and accountable" Security Council, and to make it more reflective of today's world.

In March 2025, Secretary-General Guterres launched UN80, a major reform initiative aimed at making the organization more effective, cost-efficient, and responsive.

2025 was also an important test for the UN's role on climate, with new Nationally Determined Contributions due and COP30 in Belém, Brazil in November, and for technology cooperation where multilateral public-private partnerships are seen as vital.

Conclusion

The UN is often described as suffering its most profound existential crisis, yet also as an indispensable "family of nations".

Most assessments land in the middle:

Whether the UN remains relevant will therefore likely depend on whether member states can implement the reforms promised in the Pact for the Future and the UN80 agenda - expanding representation, constraining veto abuse, and securing sustainable funding - without which warnings that it could become sidelined by competing powers and regional orders may prove accurate.