Global Insights

UN Limited Potential? Adapting the United Nations for Modern Global Challenges

Network 20/20

With the UN Security Council failing to issue a unified response to the Israel-Hamas war, questions about the efficacy of the UN and its structures are again at the fore. Furthermore, competing multilateral blocs like NATO, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the now-expanded BRICS alliance are asserting their significance, influencing global decision-making and reshaping multilateral engagements. Against this backdrop of shifting dynamics of global multilateralism, what challenges and opportunities arise for the UN? How can it be effective in addressing daunting global challenges like climate change and pandemics, as well as regional conflicts? Is an expanded Security Council, as President Biden suggested, as answer? With power centers shifting, how can we reimagine the future of diplomacy, cooperation, and, most importantly, multilateralism? Join us for a conversation Dr. Stewart Patrick, Senior fellow and Director of the Global Order and Institutions Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Professor Waheguru Pal S Sidhu, Clinical Professor and Director of the United Nations (UN) Specialization at the Center for Global Affairs, School of Professional Studies, New York University.