Exactly 80 years ago, on Oct. 24, 1945, the United Nations Charter entered into force. But the U.N. is limping through its birthday in a state of internal crisis. Confrontation and self-interest are on the rise in our dysfunctional family of nations. A global war is a significant risk; nuclear weapons holders are openly threatening their use; climate change is making parts of our world uninhabitable; and unregulated AI risks deepening socioeconomic inequality and threatening our cognitive security.

And yet, despite the seeming inability of our international systems to solve existential problems, the public still believes in global cooperation, and in the role of an institution like the U.N.

Exactly 80 years ago, on Oct. 24, 1945, the United Nations Charter entered into force. But the U.N. is limping through its birthday in a state of internal crisis. Confrontation and self-interest are on the rise in our dysfunctional family of nations. A global war is a significant risk; nuclear weapons holders are openly threatening their use; climate change is making parts of our world uninhabitable; and unregulated AI risks deepening socioeconomic inequality and threatening our cognitive security.

And yet, despite the seeming inability of our international systems to solve existential problems, the public still believes in global cooperation, and in the role of an institution like the U.N.

In a survey of 23,000 people in 18 countries, two-thirds said international decision-making is the most effective way to find solutions to future risks. Another new global poll of 36,000 people across 34 countries found that a majority (55 percent) want their country to work with others to take on common threats—even if it means compromising on some national interests.

While global support for international cooperation remains high, trust in the institutions that deliver it is notably weaker. In results of a new survey by Nira Data of 117,000 people around 101 countries, 73 percent of people who had an opinion about the U.N. said it needed reform. The view of the people mostly mirrors that of national governments.

Preserving the ideals and goals of the U.N. was a common theme at the recent U.N. General Assembly. A vast majority of national leaders’ speeches called for renewal of the U.N. for the benefit of their own people and the world in general. Our research shows that 78 percent of speeches mentioned the word “reform”; it featured more than references to climate change, Palestine, or Ukraine.

This means we have an opportunity. People and leaders want international cooperation—but they want it to work. And it’s important to remember that it once did.

As writer and historian Thant Myint-U, grandson of former U.N. Secretary-General U Thant, reminds us in his new book, Peacemaker, the U.N. has had periods of great success, including mediating conflicts like the Cuban missile crisis, and supporting the process of African decolonization.

“Storytelling matters,” Thant told me recently. “If we see the U.N. as an abstract idea in 1945 that has never really worked, it gives us no incentive to fix it.” So, if the U.N. has........

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