Year XXXVIII, Number 3, November 2025

Adriana Castagnoli 
Journalist at “Il Sole 24 Ore”.

Eighty years ago, at the close of the Second World War, representatives from fifty nations gathered in San Francisco to establish a lasting institution dedicated to the preservation of peace.

President Woodrow Wilson’s vision – his idealistic internationalism inspired the creation of the League of Nations at the end of the First World War though ultimately rejected by Congress – was given renewed expression in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s conception of a world order grounded in international cooperation.

Formally established on 24 October 1945, the United Nations embodied both the political aspiration for global governance and the pursuit of a shared future founded on international law and multilateralism. The UN Charter, signed on 26 June 1945, codified the post-war geopolitical order. Contemporary international law remains anchored to that original Charter, though its significance is too often overlooked.

While the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the instrument did not acquire legally binding force upon the Member States.

Since 1947, the question of Palestine has remained unresolved. The proposed partition of the territory under British mandate between Israel and a prospective Palestinian state was never implemented.

In October 1971, a major realignment occurred when the People’s Republic of China was recognized as the sole representative of China
 
and assumed a permanent seat on the Security Council.

Following Mao Zedong’s victory over the nationalist forces in 1949, the People’s Republic of China was excluded from UN representation, which was instead remained to Taiwan, the Republic of China.

The 1950s witnessed the acceleration of decolonization in Africa and Asia bringing a surge of newly independent states into the United Nations Principles of such as decolonization, racial equality, disarmament, and an equitable international economic system defined a transition were among the foundational principles of the transition from an imperial era to a post-imperial era community of sovereign states.

Decolonization, racial equality, disarmament, and the pursuit of a fairer international economic system constituted key principles in the transition from the imperial era to a post-imperial order of sovereign states. Yet, as conflicts from Korea to Vietnam to Angola demonstrated, war continued to spread across the Global South.

Although the United Nations was founded as humanity’s first universal institution, its founding principle – the prevention of war – remained unfulfilled because it was between the North and the South.

By the 1970s, the most profound global divide was no longer East versus West but North versus South, where hopes of redressing structural inequalities collapsed amid rhetoric.

Hopes for a power re-balance collapsed amid rhetoric, as structural inequalities remained entrenched.¶

The 1990s marked a dramatic setback: notwithstanding limited Despite some success in diplomatic mediation, the United Nations was proved unable to manage wars and humanitarian emergencies, thereby gravely undermining its credibility. The genocide in Rwanda, the massacre at Srebrenica, the “oil- for-food” scandal in Iraq, and the conflict in Darfur tragically highlighted the structural dysfunctions of the United Nations, revealing an institution incapable of acting coherently or responding promptly.

From the presidency of George W. Bush onward, impatience of the United States with the United Nations grew. Under the Trump administration steadily, Washington reduces financial contributions and support , including those to the Green Climate Fund intended to assist developing countries. Meanwhile China has sought to reshape global governance according to a model of non-interference among sovereign states, inspired by the Westphalian system. Both Washington and
 
Beijing powers, albeit in different ways, have further weakened the Organization.

In parallel, President Putin has argued shifting power dynamics require an adaptation of the legal norms enshrined in the UN Charter. Yet, he has simultaneously defended the Security Council’s absolute veto power as an instrument to block unwelcome resolutions. The UN is paralyzed both by a bureaucratic and cumbersome structure – often run according to clientelistic logic – and by a Security Council that continues to reflect the geopolitical balance of post-war powers, excluding emerging powers such as India and Brazil from permanent memberships. ¶

A regression of universalist ideals is evident: the vision of international cooperation grounded in shared values is undergoing a deep crisis.

Comprehensive reform and structural changes are urgently needed. Such reform requires decisive action from countries seeking new roles in great power competition and from Europe, which has long aspired to strengthen the United Nations, but yet remains unable to articulate a common position.

This article was originally published in the newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore on June, 26th 2025.