The crisis in Ukraine, and the real risk of it spilling across borders, is precisely the kind of great power conflict the United Nations was formed to prevent.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, raises his hand to veto a resolution condemning his country’s invasion of Ukraine, February 25 2022.
EPA-EFE/Justin Lane
India has stood apart from other major democracies in failing to offer a full-throated condemnation of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Here’s why.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the U.N. Security Council on April 5, 2022.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
An expert on the history and politics of the UN says that the Security Council’s failure to intervene in Ukraine is a “black eye,” but the panel’s inability to act is not a design flaw.
Vladimir Putin celebrated Russia’s annexation of Crimea on March 18, 2022, the eighth anniversary of the move.
Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images
None of the available methods for holding Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable are likely to actually punish him, and they may even make new atrocities more likely.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune after winning the Algerian presidential election in 2019.
Photo by Nacerdine ZEBAR/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
No state in the global community should have to earn Russia’s compliance with the law. If the rule of law is not respected, the entire global community becomes as vulnerable as Ukraine is now.
People gather outside the U.N. headquarters in New York City to protest the war in Ukraine on March 2, 2022.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Russia holds veto power on the UN Security Council, blocking any action to interfere in the Ukraine war. This is unlikely to change soon – but the UN still has other options for engagement.
International laws are in place to prevent war and help protect civilians and combatants alike. But these laws are challenging to enforce and are unlikely to stop the unfolding Russia-Ukraine war.
What’s the point of international law if Russia can still invade Ukraine? Where is the enforcement? Three experts explain why holding Russia to account is so difficult.
High-level diplomacy: representatives of the US and UK on the UN Security Council talk with Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya.
EPA-EFE/Jason Szenes
If a negotiated agreement is ever found, it is most likely to fall within the realm of free association rather than outright independence or integration in Morocco.
Representatives of the UN Security Council member states raise their hands to vote.
Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua
The UN’s Security Council is dominated by the veto-wielding permanent five members and attempts at reform continue to be plagued by obstacles.
Kenyan coastal fishermen based at Lamu near Somalia demand to be heard in the court dispute over Indian Ocean maritime boundary in March 2021.
Photo by Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images)