In a faltering state

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the negation of the Security Council resolution on Ukraine have given the world watchers an opportunity to assess the role of the United Nation (UN) and its relevance today in maintaining order in the civilised world. After the Second World War, 51 countries established the United Nation on October 24, 1945 at San Francisco, California, United States. These countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. As of today, there are 193 member countries of the United Nations, with two observers i.e., the State of Palestine and the Holy See headed by the Pope. The UN Charter interalia mandates the UN and its member states to "maintain international peace and security, uphold international law, achieve higher standards of living" for their citizens, address "economic, social, health, and related problems", and promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion". Most of the world leaders after creation of the UN have thought that the civilized world would live peacefully and countries' people will lawfully govern themselves and live in harmony in the modern world after seeing that the Second World War was one of the transformative events of the 20th century — causing the death of three per cent of the world's population of which 39 million people, half of them civilians, died in Europe. Apart from the deaths, six years of ground fights and bombing resulted in immense destruction of homes and physical infrastructure.

So, the world hoped to live happily ever after. However, the world is not run by peacemaking philosophers and philanthropies but by political and military leaders. The United States President Franklin D Roosevelt coined the word United States and, since then, the US and its Western allies have been virtually dictating terms on the functioning of the UN and the world and behaving as self-styled policemen. The result was an intense Cold War between the US-led NATO and the Soviet Union, besides the consequent rat race among opponent countries for arms/ missile and weapons gathering and deployment of atomic weapons. The Cold War ended with the disintegration of the Soviet Union. If we analyse the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, it becomes clear how this small country with good resources was used as a pawn by America and its Western allies. Ever since Ukraine became independent and showed leanings towards the US and its European allies, Putin — a former KGB (Soviet Intelligence wing) officer — vowed to bring back the past glory of Soviet era for the Russia and took power first in the year 2000 after his popularity soared from two per cent to 45 per cent on account of his role in annexing Chechnya which is now known as Chechen — a constituent republic of Russia. In 2014, Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula and annexed it. In March 18, 2014, it became a constituent republic of Russia when Putin signed the accession. In retaliation, the US and their European partners signed several agreements with Ukraine and goaded it to join NATO. The US tried to encircle Russia and bring nuclear and weapon arsenals to Russian doors.

Russian President Putin warned Ukraine not to join NATO and cited it as a violation of the Minsk treaty of 2015 between Russia and Ukraine, brokered by the French President. Now let us examine the scenario. America and its partners have a history of bombing the world all over like they did in Iraq, Vietnam and Afghanistan — citing threat to international peace but withdrawing without taking the affected countries and people into confidence. America has bombed so far more than 30 countries and is responsible for huge bloodbath and ruining the lives of millions of people. The way they left behind their weapons in Afghanistan makes mockery of the UN Charter. So far, the US has exercised its veto power for more than 80 times. The Indian government's response to America-backed resolution in the UN Security Council on February 26 has wide acceptance among Indian people as Russia has been a time-tested friend that exercised veto power in the UN four times in favour of India at crucial junctures, especially in 1948 and 1971.

Putin may be a dictator in the eyes of the West for violating the UN Charter and has been threatening the use of nuclear power if the US and NATO interfere in Ukraine but this war is reflection of a situation in which he is paying back the Americans in the same style in which they have been bombing other countries, piggybacking the UN system. It is a total failure of the UN system which has been put to ransom for the US-led western countries. We see the West has two value systems — one for them and the other for other countries. There is an entire ecosystem in the US and Europe which is rabidly trying to balkanise India like the Soviet Union. During farmers' agitation, the New York Times was full of vituperative abusive writings against India. Similarly, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had been a vociferous critic of India's handling of farmers' agitation and now the whole world is noticing how severely Canada is dealing with the farmers' agitation and the New York Times is silent. It is because of this that China is now emerging as another bully at the international level.

The crux of the matter is that the world leaders who control the UN are hypocrites and just not honest and peace-loving, and the proposal of veto system itself proves that it was a very wrong decision in 1945 when the UN was created. The coterie of Veto powers needs to be expanded or rather be dismantled, and a new world order should emerge after consultation — which should be equitable, democratic and just and can ensure forcefully, if needed, to prevent wars and bloodbaths.

The writer is Chairman of the Centre for Resource Management and Environment. Views expressed are personal