Al-Burhan and the “National Ownership of Solutions” for the War

As the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly convenes, Sudan finds itself more entangled with the organization than ever before, despite being a long-standing client since the 1990s. Previously, some of its people in Darfur were placed under the protection of the United Nations. However, never before has the world agreed on the necessity of mobilizing a peacekeeping force to protect the entirety of its civilians, as recommended by the Fact-Finding Committee on the war. The United Nations Human Rights Council listened to its report on the 6th of September this year. Furthermore, Sudan has never before had the majority of its population’s food and shelter needs met by the organization. The ongoing war has forced millions of its citizens to flee their towns, an event described as “the largest displacement in the world,” and the resulting famine has been labeled “the worst in the world in the past 40 years.”

It is not a good omen for so much of a country’s fate to be tied to an organization that many agree is no longer functioning as it should.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres nearly declared the organization’s demise in a grim interview with Fareed Zakaria last week. He had little to say in response to Zakaria, who criticized the organization’s ineffectiveness in dealing with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, other than reiterating the importance of adhering to the principles of the UN Charter in promoting peaceful coexistence. Guterres concluded that the organization is paralyzed and, after 79 years, needs to urgently address contemporary challenges such as climate change, artificial intelligence, and impunity, in order to align itself with what he called “the familiar new chaos” of today’s world.

Others have more nuanced opinions about the UN. They agree it is at a crossroads, but unlike its predecessor, the League of Nations, it has weathered many crises and achieved numerous successes as the largest institution of international cooperation. Nevertheless, it is now beset by significant challenges, including underfunding, bureaucratic bloat, and discord among the permanent members of the Security Council, all of which undermine its effectiveness. One commentator optimistically noted that while people talk about the UN’s paralysis, they should remember the Cold War years when the Security Council was practically inactive due to the US-Soviet rivalry, with only one resolution passed in 1959. The frequent use of the veto was the preferred sport at the time. At the very least, the Security Council still meets today, despite its flaws, and UN relief organizations remain unparalleled, proving that the organization was built to endure.

Closely tied to this discussion about the UN’s struggles is a broader conversation about the role of the United States as the guardian of the post-World War II global order, of which the UN was the most prominent symbol. President Joe Biden, in his speech to the UN, used a fitting metaphor to describe his country’s position in this global system. He quoted lines from William Butler Yeats’ famous poem “The Second Coming”:

“Things fall apart.”