This year marks the 80th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter. During these eight decades, much has been accomplished that calls for celebration. Yet, there is no denying that the United Nations is facing perhaps the greatest crisis of its 80-year history.
UN at 80 – Rome is burning, governments are fiddling and the UN is ailing
The difficulties confronting all parts of the UN system — not just the Security Council and the General Assembly — are many and varied. They are not, as several commentators have intimated, merely a case of states asserting their interests, seemingly unconcerned about the interests of the international community.