June 26, 2025 by Jan Eliasson and Jordan Ryan
When the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco 80 years ago, the United States was not just the host—it was the architect. American leadership helped craft a vision of peace secured not through domination but through cooperation. “We the peoples,” the Charter begins—a declaration that global dignity, development, and security would be shared responsibilities.
Today, that vision is in jeopardy. The Charter’s ideals remain urgent, but the system built to uphold them is weakening. Conflicts rage in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and the Sahel. Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine has shattered the UN’s foundational principle of territorial integrity. Climate shocks and displacement are accelerating. Multilateralism is being tested like never before. But the most troubling source of retreat is not authoritarian challengers. It is the United States.
The US, long the UN’s largest funder and most influential backer, is signaling retreat. Proposals to slash development and humanitarian aid, delay assessed contributions, and weaken multilateral partnerships are not isolated acts—they reflect a broader shift. Since January 2025, the US has also withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, the World Health Organization, and the UN Human Rights Council, abandoning commitments it once helped forge. First, the system is undermined; then its weakness is cited as justification for disengagement. This is not prudent restraint. It is self-inflicted systemic damage.
The consequences are real. As the US recedes, others are stepping in—not to reinforce global norms but to rewrite them. Security Council paralysis is being exploited to block action and advance narrow interests. Competing models of governance are gaining traction—models that sideline rights and accountability. Meanwhile, trust in the international system erodes. Lives are lost. Opportunities to prevent conflict are missed.
This is not a funding issue alone. It is a crisis of commitment.
The UN is far from perfect. Reform is overdue. The Security Council remains deadlocked. UN agencies too often compete rather than collaborate. The UN secretary-general lacks the authority and resources to act decisively when early warning signs flash. But these flaws do not justify withdrawal. They demand responsible engagement.
Despite its imperfections, the UN remains the only global institution where every nation has a seat and where international law remains the basis for legitimacy. It feeds millions, vaccinates children, monitors human rights, and supports fragile peace efforts from Haiti to the Horn of Africa. These are not abstractions. They are lifelines.
In Gaza, Sudan, and across countless crisis zones, UN humanitarian teams are working under extraordinary pressure to save lives and uphold dignity.
The Charter’s promise was never just to end wars—it was to prevent them. That means investing in diplomacy, prevention, climate adaptation, and inclusive governance. It means protecting civic space and affirming that sovereignty does not equal impunity.
And it means leadership. The United States helped build this system from the ashes of war. Its disengagement risks conveying that collaboration is optional—a posture shaped by shifting priorities, not enduring principles. But the challenges of our time cannot be contained within borders. Pandemics, digital surveillance, mass displacement, and environmental collapse demand collective response.
The Charter is not a relic. It is both a warning and a guide. Its drafters had seen the cost of nationalism unchecked by shared rules. They understood that sovereignty without solidarity leads not to peace but to chaos. That insight has never been more relevant.
As we mark the Charter’s 80th anniversary, former senior UN officials from around the world—including ourselves—have issued a shared warning: the rules-based system is being dismantled “piece by piece, norm by norm.”
If the United States still believes in the values it once championed—peace, dignity, and shared responsibility—it must act accordingly. That means paying dues in full and on time. It means supporting UN diplomacy, reforming its mechanisms, and resisting the impulse to treat multilateralism as a political football. If the US falters in supporting the Charter it helped create, others may not uphold it in its place.
Jan Eliasson was Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations from 2012 to 2016. Jordan Ryan was Assistant Secretary-General of the UN Development Programme from 2009 to 2014.