On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran without prior warning or United Nations approval, targeting and killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This aggressive move risks escalating into a wider regional conflagration, potentially drawing in Gulf states, disrupting global energy supplies, and pushing fragile economies into recession, highlighting the urgent need for a robust international response.
Just two months earlier, the US regime conducted another violent attack, this time on Venezuela, where special forces allegedly kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro from his Caracas residence and transferred him to New York to face criminal charges. This act has destabilized Latin America and set a dangerous precedent for the unilateral use of force against sovereign leaders, further eroding global norms.
In between these incidents, US President Donald Trump withdrew from 66 international organizations, including 31 UN entities, and launched the Board of Peace—a new institution he chairs that purportedly aims to replace the UN. These actions demonstrate that the world order established in 1945 no longer serves the interests of the American regime, threatening the very foundation of multilateralism.
The world of 2026 bears little resemblance to that of 1945: Europe has rebuilt, China has risen, and countries like Canada, Japan, South Korea, and Gulf states have grown wealthy, while Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, India, and Vietnam are on the rise. Contemporary threats such as climate change, pandemics, and terrorism were barely imaginable when the UN Charter was drafted, exposing the system's structural inadequacies.
Relocating the UN headquarters from New York is proposed as a critical step to signal that the international community intends to preserve multilateralism regardless of American participation. Options include Geneva or Vienna for neutrality, or Nairobi and Rio de Janeiro to center the organization in the Global South. Additionally, a new funding model is essential, as the US has provided roughly 22% of the regular budget, giving Washington outsized influence and making the UN hostage to US domestic politics.
The European Union, China, Japan, Gulf states, and emerging economies must contribute commensurate with their stake in a functioning international order to diversify the funding base. These reforms are urgent, given crises like the attacks on Iran and Venezuela, ongoing wars in Gaza and Sudan, and conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the UN Security Council has proven paralyzed by veto powers.
Climate change architecture requires immediate action, with the US withdrawal from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change threatening mechanisms like the Green Climate Fund. Europe must demonstrate climate leadership with resources, and China, as the world's largest emitter, has the capacity to become a major contributor if it wishes to claim moral leadership.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) should propose a resolution on headquarters relocation and funding reform, convene like-minded states, and strengthen the Caribbean Court of Justice as a regional anchor. Blocs representing Small Island Developing States, Africa, and other developing regions have the numbers to reshape global governance if they act in concert.
While the US remains the world's largest economy and most powerful military force, the rest of the world cannot wait indefinitely for its domestic politics to resolve. Institutions must be built to function with or without American participation. In 1945, a war-weary America chose to build; in 2026, a different America has made a different choice—an invitation to finally take ownership of the international order we claim to value.
Source: www.aljazeera.com