The United Nations was
intended to obviate war, and failing in that mission, at least to safeguard
economic trade especially if doing so staves off anticipated belligerent action
by countries seeking to restore compromised trade. In 2026, when Iran’s stoppage
of the one-fifth of the world’s oil that would otherwise go through the Strait
of Hormuz triggered a military threat by the U.S., Russia and China vetoes a
resolution in the Security Council aimed at reopening the strait and thereby
obviating an escalation in the military fighting between the U.S. and Iran. Because
not even a lopsided vote in favor—11 in favor, two against, and two abstentions—could
activate the U.N. in its principle role of peremptorily obviating war by protecting
trade, we can conclude that the organization had indeed effectively collapsed
and could not be reformed from within, given that five members of the Security
Council retained veto power. Meanwhile, military aggressors in the world were able
to fill in the power-void left by the collapsing post-World War II world order
to render might-makes-right the status quo in the twenty-first century.
The full essay is at "Security Council Vetoes Styme the UN."
