Has the UN reached its League of Nations moment?
I believe so.
Jessica Berlin here says this in relation to her Russia-Ukraine war activism, but I have preached this for many years, with other geopolitical events and factors in mind.
A few points to consider:
1. Many agencies in it are teethless, and therefore of little consequence.
2. Powerful ones like UNSC are often also nullified by veto powers given based on geopolitical circumstances that no longer exist.
3. UN serves as a moral authority for many yet its morality-related bodies are hijacked by the world's most horrible regimes.
4. Members pay membership and special fees, yet the UN's corruption is so blatant - it's like they're taking pride in it. There is no overseer, no mechanism to root it out.
5. UN's core function as a mediator is nullified as more and more conflicts are resolved or handled by individual 3rd party nations that are geopolitically positioned for the case.
Point #5 is the longstanding argument to keep the UN alive. Many assert that other parts of the UN are just decoration but they do cause significant harm to humanity, and it this argument is now also pretty much null.
The end result is that the west disregards the UN, while the east shows utter contempt for it.
As global conflicts seem to ignite at an alarming rate, a dyafunctional, objectively harmful UN is something we should strive to replace urgently.
Here are some parameters I propose for a New UN (NUN):
1. Shall initially consist of a core that is the world's established true democracies. Examples - US, Canada, UK, most of EU, Israel, South Korea, Japan, Australia, NZ.
2. The core shall be periodically reevaluated so that emerging liberal democracies may enter and degrading democracies may be expelled.
3. The core shall set up a committee to modify the NUN structure and activities at the petition of individual members of the core.
4. The NUN shall have a self investigative body subordinated to a forum of the core.
5. The NUN shall invite all nations.
6. The NUN shall be a conduit for economical, military, technological, humanitarian, and medical engagement with its members.
7. Councils with executive powers shall exist for the above mentioned topics, each with a system of tiered influence. For example more technologically advanced nations will have more influence regarding tech investments and aid.
8. The NUN shall set up a mechanism of incentives for members to comply with NUN policies.
9. Each council and agency shall have provisions to counter politicization attempts.
These examples could permit the function of a revitalized UN that would actually be of use to its members.