Every year on October 24, the world celebrates United Nations Day, marking the anniversary of the day in 1945 when the UN Charter came into force. This landmark moment, ratified by 50 founding nations – including the five permanent members of the Security Council – gave birth to what remains the most ambitious experiment in international cooperation: the United Nations. Its purpose, laid out in the very first line of its Charter, was to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,” a solemn promise born from the devastation of two world wars that had brought “untold sorrow to mankind.”

Yet, nearly 80 years later, humanity remains haunted by conflict. From the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza to the humanitarian crises in Sudan, Myanmar, and the Sahel, the aspiration for lasting peace often seems out of reach. The UN’s most powerful body, the Security Council, has too frequently failed to prevent wars, halt them quickly, or ensure lasting peace once the guns fall silent.

This record of failure has led to growing skepticism about whether the UN is still capable of fulfilling its founding mission. Critics accuse it of being an expensive, inefficient bureaucracy – one that has become hostage to political paralysis and dominated by the interests of powerful states. The veto power of the five permanent members – the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China – has too often been used to block collective action, particularly in crises where their geopolitical interests collide.

Nevertheless, dismissing the UN as irrelevant would be to ignore its deeper and often overlooked impact. Despite its flaws, the organization remains humanity’s most important moral compass and institutional anchor for cooperation. Beyond the political stage in New York, a vast network of UN agencies, programs, and peacekeepers continues to make tangible improvements in the lives of millions of people around the globe.

The founding of the UN was not merely a diplomatic exercise; it was the establishment of a global framework based on shared ideals – peace, equality, human rights, and social justice. These principles, even if frequently violated, have shaped international law, national........

© Blitz