Hussein Bin-Humam / The Economist: The New World Disorder

Global leadership is missing in action

economist.com
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These upheavals spill over into the diplomatic and security dimensions that are the focus of this special report. Are the UN, and the collaborative global governance it embodies, doomed to be less relevant in a world of great-power competition? It is surely too soon to give up on them. But to retain its clout and character the liberal order needs restored leadership and difficult reforms.

The multilateral system has important strengths. One is that it is patently needed. The biggest problems cry out for international co-operation—as the pandemic powerfully illustrates. The world needs to work together on vaccines, on economic recovery and to support the most vulnerable countries. The head of the World Food Programme, David Beasley, a former Republican governor of South Carolina, has said speedy action is necessary to prevent “multiple famines of biblical proportions”. Concerted efforts are also needed on climate change, another challenge no country can tackle on its own. The risk of nuclear proliferation is growing.

A second advantage is that the UN is popular. It has made shameful mistakes. It failed to prevent genocide in Rwanda and Srebrenica. UN peacekeepers are blamed for bringing cholera to Haiti and sexual abuse to many of the places they were meant to protect. The UN’s oil-for-food programme with Iraq led to a $1.8bn scam. Yet it is more trusted than many governments, according to the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer. Across 32 countries surveyed by Pew last year, a median of 61% had a favourable opinion of the UN, against 26% with an unfavourable view. A comfortable majority of Americans think well of it, though there is a growing partisan divide: 77% of Democrats approve, but only 36% of Republicans.