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we now face existential risks of an intensity rarely, if ever, “Today, this brings us to a
experienced in our lifetime.
Today, this brings us to a paradox: we have been living in paradox: we have been living
the best of times, and yet we now face existential risks of an in the best of times, and yet
intensity rarely, if ever, experienced in our lifetime.
we now face existential risks
To understand this contradiction, we need to go back nearly of an intensity rarely, if ever,
eighty years.
Out of the ashes of unprecedented destruction emerged a experienced in our lifetime.”
bold vision: the United Nations and the modern multilateral
system. They were founded on revolutionary ideas—that
law should replace violence as the basis of international
relations; that all states, large and small, should have a voice; certainly won’t help us meet tomorrow’s challenges.
and that human rights are universal and unconditional. We no longer live in a bipolar or unipolar world, but in a
Reality, of course, often fell short of these ideals. The Cold complex and unstable multipolar one. Power relations are
War divided the world. Colonialism persisted far too long. shifting. Middle powers are acting more independently.
Nuclear weapons cast a permanent shadow. But something Technology—not ideology—is increasingly shaping spheres
fundamentally changed. War itself came to be seen as of influence.
illegitimate. A third world war was avoided. International And power itself has become diffuse, extending far beyond
cooperation enabled an extraordinary expansion of states to corporations, cities, scientists, philanthropists, and
prosperity, health, and opportunity. non-state actors of every kind.
The impact of multilateralism on humanity can not be Global governance today is no longer a chessboard of states
overstated. alone; it is a dense, messy network of actors, interests, and
influences.
So what went wrong? Multilateralism must therefore evolve.
Over time, success bred complacency. We naïvely began to Some describe this evolution as “polylateralism”: a system
believe that progress was inevitable—that globalization and that is more collaborative, more integrated, more networked,
technology would benefit everyone, that major wars were more inclusive, and more preventive—whose legitimacy is
relics of the past, that markets and innovation would solve derived not from its mere presence, but from its results and
problems on their own. impact.
This complacency bred inaction: in the face of climate This has profound implications for the United Nations.
change, rising inequality, the darker sides of globalisation,
and disruptive technologies. If the UN is to remain relevant, it must be restructured to
And today, we are paying the price. reflect today’s realities. Everyone understands that.
Cooperation is giving way to zero-sum competition. That means reforming the Security Council to reflect
Might is increasingly seen as right. Solidarity is weakening contemporary power dynamics and restore legitimacy and
precisely when it is most needed. trust. Strengthening the General Assembly as a forum for
We are witnessing a fragmentation of the international genuine, impactful deliberations.
system: economically, politically, technologically, and
ideologically. Cooperation is giving way to zero-sum Break down institutional silos and operate through
competition. Might is increasingly seen as right. Solidarity integrated, mission-driven structures. And creating
is weakening precisely when it is most needed. operational ecosystems that systematically include non-
The truth is uncomfortable but unavoidable: the international state actors in decision-making and implementation.
system designed eighty years ago is no longer fit for purpose. Truly operationalize the Sustainable Development Goals
But make no mistake: the world, as it has evolved, cannot do across the planet so that they again become the global
without a multilateral and a United Nations system. What is roadmap to peace that is so clearly needed.
very clear is that it must be fundamentally reformed. In short, the UN system must move from a compartmentalised
system to an integrated platform for collective action.
It is also clear that it cannot be reformed by trying to re- But it, and its member States, must, first of all, confront
establish it as it was. The once popular notion of “building some uncomfortable truths as it strives to reform.
back better” we kept hearing after the COVID pandemic is
not possible. A few examples:
On the contrary, we need to build forward better! Because if Across-the-board budget cuts, panic-driven decentralization,
yesterday’s tools were not adapted to today’s problems, they and ad-hoc staffing decisions are not reforms. They are

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