Recent global crises have exposed growing doubts about the United Nations’ authority and effectiveness. From sovereignty violations to humanitarian disasters, the gap between mandate and action is widening.

There was a time when the United Nations represented collective conscience, global balance, and restraint on brute power. Today, it increasingly feels like a hollow institution, slowly walking the same path as the League of Nations, which was created after World War I and eventually faded into irrelevance. The question is no longer whether the UN is weak the question is how long before it completely loses its authority.

The recent, systematic and seemingly pre-planned arrest of Nicolás Maduro, President of Venezuela, is a disturbing example. The manner in which he was taken, the reported violation of Venezuelan sovereignty, and the complete bypassing of international legal procedures point to serious breaches of international law, including violations of the UN Charter that prohibit external interference and unlawful detention of a sitting head of state. The repeated outfit changes during his custody reflects something deeper. What is impossible to ignore is the silence of UN bodies in the face of such open bullying by the United States.

This is not an isolated incident. The occupation of Palestine by Israel continues with little more than statements and resolutions that change nothing on the ground. Sudan’s civil war has displaced nearly 12 million people since April 2023, yet the international response remains painfully ineffective. In Iran, years of suppressed anger have erupted due to inflation and economic pressure, but again, global institutions appear more like spectators than mediators.

Adding to the irony is the sudden rise of María Corina Machado as a top potential successor after Maduro. She is a Venezuelan opposition leader and activist, and her emergence feels far too convenient. Her public expressions of support for “occupied Palestine” have been selectively highlighted, and while she has been celebrated internationally even receiving the Nobel Peace Prize 2025 that recognition itself is open to debate. Awards and narratives, it seems, are now tools of geopolitics.

Many believe that these events have nothing to do with us in India, that sitting comfortably on our sofas shields us from global instability. That belief is dangerously wrong. Donald Trump has once again threatened India, reminding us that power politics spare no one. If powerful nations can openly undermine sovereignty elsewhere while the UN watches silently, there is no guarantee the same cannot happen to us.

Yet, instead of focusing on unity and institutional strength, we remain busy hating each other. We celebrate closures like a medical college shutting down without asking who will treat patients tomorrow, or whether rural India can afford fewer doctors and specialists. This misplaced celebration reflects a deeper societal distraction at a time when the world order itself is cracking.

The UN’s silence, global bullying, selective outrage, and our own internal divisions are not separate issues. They are connected. And if we fail to see that now, we may soon find ourselves living in a world where international law exists only on paper.