Is the United Nations still relevant?

The question of whether the United Nations is still relevant is one of the most critical and debated topics in modern geopolitics. Having crossed its 80th anniversary, the UN faces an unprecedented crisis of purpose, strained by severe financial shortfalls, deep geopolitical divisions, and a gridlocked Security Council.

The verdict on the UN’s relevance largely depends on whether you look at its political ability to maintain global peace or its on-the-ground humanitarian and coordinating work. Global polling reflects this paradox: a 2026 UN Foundation survey found that 84% of people globally still believe the UN is necessary, but more than half agree that it is struggling to deliver.

The arguments for and against the UN's ongoing relevance highlight this complex reality.

The Case for Relevance: Why the UN is Indispensable

Proponents of the UN argue that while the organization is deeply flawed, the world would be far more dangerous, chaotic, and impoverished without it.

1. The World’s Humanitarian Lifeline

For millions of the world’s most vulnerable people, the UN is not a bureaucratic talk shop—it is a matter of survival.

If the UN were to dissolve, the humanitarian infrastructure in conflict zones like Sudan, Yemen, and Gaza would collapse almost overnight, leaving tens of millions without food, medicine, or shelter.

2. Unrivaled Convening Power

No other body on Earth has the legitimacy to bring 193 sovereign nations to the same table. During the annual UN General Assembly high-level weeks, virtually every world leader—even from hostile or adversarial nations—gathers in New York. It remains the ultimate platform for global diplomacy, backchannel communications, and shaping international norms.

3. Preventing Great Power War

While the UN has failed to prevent regional conflicts, defenders point out that it has succeeded in its primary founding mission: preventing World War III. The existence of the UN—particularly the Security Council—provides a continuous, institutionalized channel of communication between nuclear-armed great powers, serving as a critical safety valve against catastrophic escalation.

4. Managing "Problems Without Passports"

Some global challenges cannot be solved by any single nation. The UN remains the only viable framework for coordinating global action on borderless issues, including climate change (via the Paris Agreement and NDCs), global health (via the World Health Organization), and international treaties on emerging frontiers like Artificial Intelligence and cyber governance.

The Case for Irrelevance: Why the UN is Failing

Critics argue that the UN is increasingly toothless, structurally outdated, and incapable of addressing the security crises of the 21st century.

1. Security Council Gridlock

The UN's primary organ for preserving peace, the Security Council, is fundamentally paralyzed. The five permanent members (the P5: US, Russia, China, UK, and France) hold absolute veto power. Consequently, whenever a major power or its close ally is involved in a conflict—such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or the conflicts in Gaza and Sudan—the Security Council is blocked from taking meaningful action. In 2025, the Security Council passed only 44 resolutions, its lowest output since 1991.

2. Severe Financial and Operational Crisis

The UN is facing what Secretary-General António Guterres has called a "race to bankruptcy". Driven by payment delays and funding caps from major donors like the United States, the UN has been forced to implement steep budget cuts and eliminate thousands of posts. This financial strain directly limits its ability to launch and maintain effective peacekeeping operations, which have shrunk significantly from their peak a decade ago.

3. An Outdated Post-WWII Structure

The UN's governance structures reflect the world order of 1945, not today. Large, influential regions—most notably the entire continent of Africa, as well as rising global powers like India and Brazil—have no permanent representation on the Security Council. This lack of representation has led to a growing crisis of legitimacy, with leaders in the Global South increasingly viewing the UN as a tool used by wealthy, powerful nations to protect their own interests.

4. Lack of Enforcement and Accountability

UN General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, and Security Council resolutions are routinely ignored with impunity. When international law is violated without consequence, the UN’s moral and legal authority is severely eroded, prompting critics to question the value of its diplomatic consensus-building.

Conclusion: The Verdict

The United Nations is undergoing an unprecedented crisis of purpose, but it is not obsolete. Rather than being irrelevant, the UN is chronically constrained by the very sovereign states that comprise it.

As the UN navigates the selection of a new Secretary-General to succeed António Guterres, the pressure to reform is reaching a boiling point. The prevailing consensus among geopolitical analysts is captured by a famous quote often attributed to diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld: “The UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell.”

The UN we have is far from perfect, but in an increasingly dangerous and fragmented world, a flawed global forum is still widely considered far better than none at all.