The creation of the UN was not the result of any rational thought process. It was the result of some collective wishful thinking. Its predecessor, the League of Nations was a monumental failure. Read anywhere why it failed and you would find that it failed amongst other reasons, because of internal divisions among major powers, and an inability to prevent aggression. Quite amusingly, its successor, UN, despite all the window-dressing suffers from the same fundamental problems.
The Indian Express had written an editorial ‘When Donald Trump held up a mirror to the UN – and the world watched’, which suffers from the ‘UPSC syndrome’, that is, it reads more like a reply given by a civil services aspirant tutored hard by the coaching centre industry, the motto of which is to play safe and refrain from being categorical. It said that Donald Trump’s General Assembly speech was a recap of his domestic political rhetoric. It also underlined the challenges he represents to the global order.
Mind these words; they are extremely serious accusations. Yet, like a good civil services aspirant, the editorial also said, “While Trump’s self-proclaimed success as a peacemaker is questionable, his claim that ‘the United Nations did not even try to help in any of them conflicts’ cannot be denied. Through much of this century, the UN’s role as mediator, as a neutral arbiter with the authority and means to intervene in conflicts, has been on the wane. Its increasing irrelevance in global politics is not accidental, or merely a function of leaders ignoring it.” Having written this, the editorial felt that, in order to be politically correct, the tone must be moderated. So it went back into UPSC answer mode and said that the irrelevance stems from structural issues, and from financing to the UNSC, etc. Look at the bullshit. The editorial means to say that the UN would have been more relevant and powerful had the UNSC been funded better. Omigosh! The Express is not alone is making itself believe in such self-delusional pleasantries. It is exactly this sort of bullshit that has forced the world to bear the weight of a dead body like the UN for 80 years.
An Expensive Stage for Moral Posturing
In the marbled halls of the United Nations headquarters in New York, where diplomats in exquisitely tailored suits sip overpriced coffee and pat themselves on the back for another round of toothless resolutions, Trump lambasted the UN for funding an “assault on Western countries” through migration policies, dismissed climate science as the “greatest con job in history,” and bragged that he’d personally “ended seven wars” while the UN twiddled its thumbs. “It’s too bad I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them,” he sneered, questioning the very existence of an organization that “creates new problems” faster than it solves old ones.
The UN isn’t just ineffective; it’s a relic, a bureaucratic behemoth born from the ashes of World War II, designed by victors to perpetuate their dominance under the guise of collective security. Eight decades later, it stands as a monument to human hubris—a $3 billion annual sinkhole (mostly footed by American taxpayers) that achieves nothing but moral posturing and veto-fuelled gridlock. Its voting system, rigged from the start with the Security Council’s veto power, that is an inherently undemocratic and illogical thing, ensures that the five permanent members—the US, Russia, China, France, and the UK—can squash any action that doesn’t suit their whims or temporal interests. This isn’t governance; it’s geopolitical theatre of the absurd, where outrageous atrocities get a pass because someone’s got a red button to press.
In the end, nations do what they want, or what they must, and the UN is about as useful as a fart in a hurricane. Israel HAD to ignore endless condemnations over Gaza because it HAD to avenge the barbaric October 7, 2023, Hamas atrocities—over 1,200 slaughtered, scores of women raped and paraded naked like trophies, all while terrorists chanted jihadist slogans caught on horrifying videos. As the Romans had said, ‘Fiat justitia ruat caelum’ (Justice must be done; the universe may perish). Retributive justice isn’t negotiable; it’s primal, and no amount of UN finger-wagging can change that. Collateral damage? Tragic, but inevitable when Hamas had embedded itself deep among civilians who, videos show, had indeed celebrated the bloodbath—making them collaborators in the crime. Who the hell is the UN to pass moral or ethical judgments? Issues of justice cannot be decided by the opinion of others. If a nation is the victim of some atrocity, it is their bloody right to decide how they must avenge it. Others have no business telling them that OK now you have dropped some 100,000 tons of bombs, killed 67,211 and wounded over 170,000 and that ought to be enough. The UN cannot be allowed to assume the role of the headmaster of a primary school. We are not dealing with minor infractions of a kid having pinched somebody or stolen his pencil; by God, we are talking of the cold-blooded murder of over 1,200 innocent civilians.
Time to Call the Farce what it is
Start from Resolution 181 that birthed Israel amid Arab fury, only for the Security Council to dither as war erupted. No enforcement, no peace. Then the 1956 Suez Crisis—the UN condemned it but couldn’t stop the tanks rolling into Sinai. A toothless ceasefire was brokered by US pressure, not UN posturing. By the 1960s, Congo’s descent into chaos exposed the farce further: UN peacekeepers arrived in 1960, but their mandate forbade offensive action, leaving them spectators as Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was assassinated in a CIA-backed coup. The UN’s “success” there? Stabilizing a resource grab for Western mining interests, at the cost of 100,000 lives.
Come to Rwanda, 1994: 800,000 Tutsis hacked to death in 100 days, the fastest genocide in history. UN peacekeepers under UNAMIR watched from the side-lines as machetes rose and fell. Commander Roméo Dallaire begged for 5,000 more troops and a mandate to intervene; New York denied him, veto-fearing Belgium (a P5 ally) pulled out after ten soldiers were murdered. The Security Council dithered, passing a resolution to reduce the force from 2,500 to 270 as bodies piled in Kigali’s streets. Kofi Annan, then head of peacekeeping, later admitted the failure but deflected blame—classic UN buck-passing. The result? A stain that screams incompetence: the world’s “premier human rights body” ignored faxed warnings of impending doom, dooming 800,000 to the abyss.
Then Srebrenica, 1995 was another peacekeeping debacle, this one in Bosnia. Dutch UN troops, 400 strong, “protected” a “safe area” with 40,000 Muslims. When Serb forces under Ratko Mladić rolled in, the blue-helmets handed over the men and boys—8,000 executed in Europe’s worst massacre since WWII. UN commanders in Sarajevo had airpower at their fingertips but refused strikes, fearing escalation. The Hague tribunal later convicted Mladić, but the UN? It issued a mea culpa report in 1999, admitting “a major moral and political failure,” then buried it under more resolutions. Moral failure? By God, it was a bloody farce.
Syria witnessed half a million dead and 13 million displaced. The UN’s response? A parade of vetoes—Russia alone blocked 17 resolutions. Chemical attacks in Ghouta (2013) killed 1,400; UN inspectors confirmed Sarin, but no enforcement followed. Assad and the inspectors both could not be correct simultaneously.
The UN failed Darfur (300,000 dead, veto-blocked), Rohingya (genocidal clearances), Yemen (400,000 starved amid Saudi bombs), and countless others.
I am not discussing the issue of ‘ultimate truths’ or right or wrong. Whoever could be right; my purpose is to expose the b***** farce of this international body. Even for Ukraine, the General Assembly condemned it 141-5, but so what? No troops, no sanctions enforcement beyond bluster.
The Iraq invasion actually exposed the UN not as referee, but as enabler. Bush’s 2003 blitzkrieg was sold on WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) lies. Hans Blix’s UN inspectors found zilch, reporting in February 2003 that no evidence existed. Yet the Security Council’s Resolution 1441 (November 2002) gave Saddam “final opportunity to comply,” twisted by neocons into a war green light. France and Russia balked, but the US bypassed the Council, invading anyway – 4,500 US dead, 200,000 Iraqi civilians slaughtered, ISIS born from the ashes.
Kofi Annan called it “illegal” in 2004, breaching the Charter, but too late – the edifice of falsehoods had been built with UN complicity. The Oil-for-Food scandal followed: $1.8 billion embezzled under UN oversight, with kickbacks to Saddam and kickdowns to bureaucrats. Post-invasion, the UN’s “role” was token—Brahimi’s report urged a sovereign Iraq, but Bremer’s occupation ignored it, plunging the country into sectarian hell.
This wasn’t multilateralism; it was the US using the UN as a rubber stamp until it wasn’t, and then discarding it. The UN serves as alibi for the powerful, mute for the weak.
Peacekeeping: The Ultimate Oxymoron
Nothing embodies the UN’s farce like its peacekeeping operations – 70 missions since 1948, costing $100 billion, serving practically no purpose other than headlines. By design, blue-helmets can’t fight; their mandate is “consent-based,” meaning host nations dictate terms, and offensive action is forbidden without Council approval – which vetoes kill. It’s like sending librarians to break up a bar brawl.
Srebrenica and Rwanda were previews; the main feature is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). MONUSCO, deployed since 1999, boasts 16,000 troops against militias raping and pillaging in the east. Mandate? “Stabilize” by supporting the corrupt Congolese army – which itself commits atrocities. Result: 6 million dead since 1996, the world’s deadliest conflict, with UN “protection” failing to stop massacres in Ituri or child soldier recruitment.
Mali’s MINUSMA (2013-2023) fared no better: 300 peacekeepers killed, yet jihadists overran the north, coups toppled governments, and the mission withdrew in humiliation after locals pelted troops with stones. Haiti? MINUSTAH (2004-2017) brought cholera (10,000 dead from UN-introduced strains) and sexual abuse scandals – 100+ cases of blue-helmets raping locals, with the UN shielding perpetrators via diplomatic immunity.
These aren’t outliers. A 2023 review found peacekeeping fails 70% of the time to protect civilians, often exacerbating violence by arming warlords or displacing refugees. Why persist? Because it’s a deputation program for Third World police officers and a fig leaf for P5 guilt. The Third World cops are extremely keen to get selected for these assignments because it helps them save some honest money from the salary in dollars. Class-I direct recruit police officers do not mind waiving their ranks for the deputation period and working alongside or even under lowly cops from other countries as long as they save the money. Trump called it an “oxymoron” in 2018; he’s right – it’s a force that keeps no peace, only the illusion of one.
Trump’s Anti-UN Crusade: The Reckoning the World needs
His 2018 UNGA speech was a Molotov cocktail: “The United Nations must reform if it is to be effective,” he roared, slamming “socialist” Venezuela and Iran while touting his Abraham Accords as proof that bilateral deals trump bureaucratic bloat. He withdrew the US from UNESCO (2017, for “anti-Israel bias”), the Human Rights Council (2018, a “cesspool of political bias”), and temporarily from WHO (2020, for “China-centric” COVID bungling). Funding? Slashed $1 billion via rescissions, targeting “wasteful” programs like UNRWA, accused of Hamas ties.
By 2025, back in the White House, Trump doubled down. His UNGA address mocked the body for “funding illegal migration” and failing on wars: “I ended seven—ISIS, the Taliban caliphate, Yemen’s Houthis, Syrian safe zones, Colombian FARC, Afghan peace, and Abraham Accords deals—while you debated.” “You’re destroying your countries with open borders,” he lectured on migration, blaming UN pacts for Europe’s “hell.” Climate? “Hoax” peddled by the UN to siphon trillions. He’s the antidote to Davos delusions, proving nations thrive without the nanny state.
Dismantle the Dinosaur
There is no need to cling on to this deadwood, the impotent panchayat. The General Assembly is reduced to a 193-nation talk shop passing 300 resolutions yearly, 99% ignored. Corruption festers with some $2 billion in procurement scandals since 2010.
I am now waiting for Trump, the proverbial ‘Bull in the Global China Shop’; to invade Venezuela now on absolutely manufactured pretexts. I have no sympathy for the Venezuelans but I would welcome the invasion because that would be yet another slap in the face of this international farce called UN.
Nations must muster the courage: sort your messes bilaterally, regionally, or unilaterally. The UN’s a village elder with no stick, pontificating as wolves devour the flock. Trump’s right—it’s a bloody farce. The world has had survived without it for millennia; it’ll survive and thrive again.
