The UN then, too, faced an existential crisis, in which some of its biggest former advocates, like the United States under Donald Trump, were challenging the very premises of multilateralism upon which the organization was founded. The COVID-19 pandemic seemed to mark an era of de-globalization which saw countries increasingly practice isolationism and protectionism and many governments loudly emphasizing sovereignty, nationalism, and self-reliance.However, even as individual nations struggled to cope and largely fended for themselves, the WHO somehow managed to spearhead a global response and appeared the most coherent way of moving forward, particularly with the COVAX initiative, once vaccines against the disease started becoming available. In a similar vein, the UNO has frequently come together as one to accept and attempt to jointly confront the horrors of terrorism and the disastrous consequences of rapid climate change.Russia’s assault on Ukraine from February 24 has embroiled Europe in that continent’s largest military conflict since World War II and has again confronted the global organisation with a new existential dilemma. This military conflict appears so unnecessary, particularly with the continent and the rest of the world still struggling to emerge from the throes of the deadly Covid pandemic. It has already taken on the dimensions of a global conflict as people from countries around the world are getting badly hit and even killed, and economies ravaged, with rising energy and food costs and a rash of as yet unknown consequences. Referring to the more chilling threat from the Russian President Vladimir Putin, to place nuclear forces on “high alert,” Guterres on Monday said the “mere idea of a nuclear conflict is simply inconceivable,” adding that, “Nothing can justify the use of nuclear weapons.”
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