The Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed the world. While Ukrainians try to defend themselves and call for collective self-defense, millions of people in the free world plead for action. The post-World War II international political order is failing. But it has not yet fallen: The United Nations still can take action to regain moral standing and to secure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and all other member states.
The U.N.’s main purpose is to maintain international peace and security, but it did not prevent the full-scale brutal war now happening in Ukraine, nor did it prevent or punish Russia’s unlawful seizure of Crimea and its occupation of Donbas in 2014.
The organization’s final insult to Ukraine and everyone horrified by its treatment has been Russia’s role presiding over the Security Council. From this soapbox, the highest stage in the world, the Russian ambassador has amplified the Kremlin’s propagandistic narrative for weeks.
