A senior United Nations official has warned that the organisation risks following the League of Nations into irrelevance unless member states undertake fundamental reforms, arguing that Russia’s war in Ukraine has exposed structural failures at the heart of the international system.
Matthias Schmale, the UN’s senior official in Ukraine, said the organisation was approaching a “watershed moment” after Russia was able to use its position as a permanent member of the Security Council to shield itself from meaningful international action over its invasion.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Schmale described the Security Council’s veto system as “anachronistic”, arguing that it was incompatible with the UN’s role as a genuinely global institution.
“Ukraine is an example of that; you have one of those Security Council members violating the norms that we stand for, and they can use the veto right to get themselves off the hook,” he said.
The warning strikes at one of the central contradictions of the UN system.
The institution is charged with maintaining international peace and security, while five of the countries with the greatest ability to disrupt that order retain permanent seats and veto powers, he warned that the UN is “no longer fit for purpose.”
Schmale argued that those privileges should be reconsidered, including the permanent status and veto rights held by China, France, Russia, the UK and the US.
“If we had the opportunity to redesign this, I would certainly think it’s wrong to give a selected few any veto or permanency rights,” he said.
The organisation is also facing mounting financial pressure. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has criticised the Trump administration’s withdrawal from dozens of UN-linked agencies and urged Washington to meet its financial obligations, with outstanding US payments estimated at about $4bn.
The broader crisis has revived comparisons with the League of Nations, which failed to prevent the conflicts that preceded the Second World War before being replaced by the UN in 1945.
Schmale said the historical parallel should not be dismissed.
The League, he argued, became obsolete after member states concluded that it could no longer fulfil its purpose. His fear is that the same dynamic could eventually confront the UN.
“My hope remains that member states will find the momentum to reform [the UN] instead of letting it collapse,” he said.
“But I think it’s a really realistic option, sadly, that we may have to collapse to create something new.”
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