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* United Nations Faces ‘Imminent Financial Collapse.’

* Iran’s Military Drill

By Shashi P.B.B. Malla

United Nations

The United Nations’ Secretary General Antonio  Guterres is warning that the world body faces ‘imminent financial collapse’ unless its financial rules are overhauled or all 193 member nations pay their dues – a message definitely directed at the United States and the billions of dollars it owes (Associated Press/AP, Feb 1).

The UN chief said in a letter to all UN member nations that funds for its regular operating budget could run out by July of this year, which could dramatically affect its operations.

“Either all member states honour their obligations to pay in full and on time – or member states must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse,” he said.

United States main culprit

While Guterres didn’t name any country in the letter, the financial crisis comes as the US, traditionally the largest donor, has not paid its mandatory dues to the United Nations.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly downplayed the role of the United Nations and said the UN has potential but has not lived up to it.

Trump forgets that the world body is what its members, particularly the big and rich nations make of it.

The UN Security Council for instance is stymied because of the misuse of the veto power by the US and Russia and has not been effective on questions of international peace and security – its primary concern.

In this hour of need, the other big and middle powers could step in to save the world body, which is doing a good job world wide, particularly in humanitarian affairs.

The US also owes US $ Dollar 1.8 billion for the separate budget for the UN’s far-flung peace-keeping operations, and that also will rise.

The country second on the list for not paying dues is Venezuela, which owes US $ Dollar 38 million.

The South American country, whose economy was struggling before the US military raid last month that kidnapped then-president Nicolas Maduro, has already lost its right to vote in the General Assembly for being two years in arrears.

[This is also the fate that awaits the US in 2027, and Trump could be a ‘lame-duck president’ after the mid-term elections in November this year].

Guterres said the Un ended 2025 with a record US $ Dollar1.568 billion in outstanding dues, over double the amount outstanding at the end of 2024.   

The Trump administration did not pay any dues in 2025.

United Nations reform

There is widespread agreement on the need tom reform aspects of the UN system.

This is hardly surprising considering that the world organization is now over 80 years old, and confronts a vastly different set of international issue areas from those which characterized the immediate post-World War Two period.

While the Cold War provided a convenient alibi for some of the organization’s shortcomings, its end coupled with the euphoria generated by the UN’s role in the Persian Gulf War of 1991 kindled hope that a reformed UN could become the central supporting structure in the architecture of the New World Order (Graham Evans/Jeffry Newnham: Dictionary of International Relations, 1998).

The optimism proved short-lived.

Not only has there been a reluctance to confront the issue of reform, but during the 1991-95 period then UN was overwhelmed by active involvement in seemingly intractable intra-state conflicts, rather than the inter-state variety it was designed to deal with.

Communal conflicts in Angola, Cambodia, El Salvador, Haiti, Rwanda, Liberia, Palestine, Mozambique, as well as the republics of the former Soviet Union and ex-Yugoslavia extended the world Organization to the limits of its competence (Evans/Newnham).

In particular the debacle:

  • in Bosnia where UN troops were taken hostage, and
  • Somalia where the UN withdrew ignominiously after US troops suffered casualties,raised the questions about the need to confront anew the principles and purposes that the UN should stand for.

There are three general categories of reform proposals : structural/constitutional, finance and funding, and operational.

  1. Structurally the aim is to make the UN more democratic, and more responsive and more authoritative.

This involves reforming the General Assembly, the Security Council – including the role of the 5 Permanent Members, and the Secretariat.

Other proposals in this category involve a rationalization of the functions of the Economic and Social Council, particularly the specialized agencies.

  • On the financial front the aim is to make the UN solvent and less reliant on a handful of rich industrialized countries [previously the First World], particularly the United States.
  • Operationally the objective is to redefine its role in communal conflicts, to expand its competence in complex emergencies, global governance, humanitarian intervention and the global protection of human rights and the environment.

All of these issues were already addressed by Secretary General Boutros-Ghali’s ‘Agenda for Peace’ back inn 1992 but as Evans/Newnham note, characteristically for a near universal organization of this kind, agreements on specifics is difficult to obtain, and if obtained, difficult to sustain.

Iran

The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, has again become a focus of tensions as Iran prepares to launch a military drill that could see fire into a sea lane crucial for global shipping (Associated Press/AP, Feb. 2).

The Strait through history has been important for trade with ceramics, ivory, silk and textiles moving from China through the region.

Iran has warned ships that it will conduct a live fire drill in the strait, which sees a fifth of all oil traded pass through the tight corridor between the Islamic Republic and Oman.

US issues warning over Iranian drill

The US military’s Central Command issued its own warning, telling Tehran that any “unsafe and unprofessional behaviour near U.S. forces, regional partners or commercial vessels increases risks of collision, escalation and destabilization.”

The US military’s strongly worded warning to Iran and the Revolutionary Guards while acknowledging Iran’s “right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters,” warned against interfering or threatening American warships or passing commercial vessels.

The command, which oversees the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, [very near Qatar] said it “will not tolerate unsafe actions” [by the Revolutionary Guards] that could include its aircraft or vessels getting too close to American warships or pointing weapons toward them.

The Central Command added that “the US military has the most highly trained and lethal force in the world” (AP).

US President Donald Trump has threatened to launch a military strike against Iran after its bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

He has laid down two red lines – the killing of peaceful protesters and Iran launching a wave of mass executions of those held.

In recent days, he has also included the fate of Iran’s nuclear programme.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and supporting guided missile destroyers are now also in the Arabian Sea where they could launch an attack if Trump calls for it.

Iran has warned it could launch its own pre-emptive strike or target American interests and allies across the Middle East and Israel.

While theb12-day Iran-Israel war saw Iran fire off ballistic missiles and Israel target its stockpile, Tehran maintains an arsenal of short- and medium-range missiles that could hit surrounding Gulf Arab states.

A regional war could, therefore, be in the offing.

The writer can be reached at: shashimalla125@gmail.com