As the war in West Asia deepens and global tensions rise from Ukraine to Gaza and Sudan, renewed scrutiny is being directed at the United Nations and its ability to uphold its core mandate of maintaining international peace and security.
In an exclusive interaction with StratNewsGlobal, Asoke Mukerji, former Ambassador of India to the United Nations, said the current international climate reflects a breakdown of collective responsibility, particularly among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
“There has been a breakdown of peace and security,” Mukerji said, questioning how countries wielding veto power can be at the forefront of armed conflicts rather than peace initiatives. “The obligation is for those countries to wage peace. Diplomacy has to prioritise peace. But the diplomacy we are seeing is prioritising war.”
He argued that the absence of unified leadership from the five permanent members has weakened global conflict-resolution mechanisms. With the election of the next UN Secretary-General due in December, Mukerji said the organisation must assume a stronger leadership role in bringing warring nations to the negotiating table.
On Iran, Mukerji traced the origins of the present tensions to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, widely known as the Iran nuclear deal. The agreement between Iran and the P5+1 — the United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany — placed limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment programme under monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, in exchange for phased sanctions relief.
The deal was endorsed by the UN Security Council, giving it international legal standing. However, Mukerji said the agreement took an “unexpected turn” when the United States, under then-President Donald Trump, withdrew during his first term, triggering what he described as the unravelling of mutual obligations.
“Today we are seeing the consequence of what happens when the international legal structure breaks down and is replaced by each country wanting to do what it wants to do,” Mukerji said, noting that the US withdrawal was not endorsed by the Security Council. He added that subsequent concerns over Iran’s ballistic missile programme — not covered in the original pact — further complicated efforts to revive the agreement.
