Has the UN lost its moral, security authority?

In light of continued global crises and decades of inaction, it is time to confront a difficult truth: the United Nations has failed in its fundamental mission to maintain international peace and security, uphold human rights, and protect the vulnerable from the horrors of war and oppression.

From Iraq to Gaza, from Rwanda to Yemen, the UN has consistently stood by as violations of international law unfolded, often with the complicity or outright protection of powerful member states. The institution’s inability to act meaningfully in the face of aggression, injustice, and mass suffering raises serious questions about its legitimacy and effectiveness.

A history of inaction and complicity

The UN failed to prevent the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003, despite widespread evidence that the rationale for war weapons of mass destruction was fabricated. Over one million lives were lost in a conflict that destabilized an entire region. In 1994, UN peacekeepers were ordered to stand down during the Rwandan genocide, where 800,000 people were murdered in a span of 100 days. In Gaza, decades of UN resolutions have failed to bring an end to occupation, siege, and the bombing of civilian areas. Repeated violations of international law go unpunished, while Israel a close ally of the United States, a permanent Security Council member enjoys de facto immunity from accountability. In the DRC, the UN has watched millions die in country that hosts largest peacekeeping missions. Again, the UN has failed to protect the people of DR Congo, pushing the new regime under Tshisekedi to limit the UN’s invovement citing inaction in the phase of brutal attacks. He strongly pushed for and secured the accelerated withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, who wer eexpected to have left by December 2024.

Recebtly we have seen Russia attacking Ukraine and most recently Israel attacking Iran over nuclear weapon threats. The UN in all these instances has only condemned or send peacekeeping forces at the cost of contributiing nations.

These are not isolated failures. They are symptoms of a structural problem.

The core flaw: A system built on power, not justice

At the heart of the UN’s dysfunction is the Security Council’s veto power, held by five permanent members: the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China. This mechanism allows any one of these states to block action, regardless of global consensus or humanitarian urgency. It ensures that the geopolitical interests of the powerful override the principles enshrined in the UN Charter.

As a result, the UN has become a tool for power projection rather than justice. It condemns aggressors selectively, shields allies of major powers from scrutiny, and provides a diplomatic façade for what are often unilateral, illegal, or disproportionate acts of force. Again, the UN Security Council has not allowed an African country to be permanent member, making it look like colonisers deciding for the African continent.

When “neutrality” aids the oppressor

The UN’s language of neutrality and balanced diplomacy has too often resulted in moral paralysis. When both the aggressor and the victim are treated as equal parties in a conflict, the institution loses credibility. This false equivalence enables continued suffering while stripping victims of the legitimacy they deserve. Worse still, it emboldens those who commit war crimes under the cover of international ambiguity.

Time for honest reckoning

The world has changed dramatically since 1945, but the UN has not. The current system rewards impunity, marginalizes the Global South, and fails to reflect the geopolitical and moral realities of our time. It is not enough to call for reform. The very foundation of the institution built on post-WWII power dynamics must be reimagined.

New global movements are already emerging. Civil society organizations, non-aligned states, and grassroots coalitions are advocating for alternative systems of international cooperation ones based not on military might or historical privilege, but on equality, justice, and mutual accountability.

If the United Nations continues to operate as an enabler of impunity and a shield for the powerful, it will lose whatever moral authority it still claims to hold. The time has come to either transform the UN into a truly democratic and accountable body or to replace it with institutions that are.

The world does not need another empty forum. It needs justice.