The 81st United Nations General Assembly opened under the unusually self-aware theme of “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all”. Yet one of the week’s most revealing diplomatic images was not in New York at all. President Xi Jinping travelled to Washington for a state visit and direct talks with US president, Donald Trump, while China sent Vice President Han Zheng to the General Debate. Russia, meanwhile, sent foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, to New York. Only weeks earlier, Xi and Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had both attended the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summits in person.

It would be too simple to declare the UN irrelevant on the strength of leaders’ travel schedules, and there is no basis for claiming that Xi’s itinerary alone was intended as a snub to the organisation. Still, the contrast matters. Major powers continue to value the UN, but their leaders increasingly devote their own time to settings where bargaining can produce immediate bilateral or plurilateral results. The General Assembly remains a uniquely global platform, yet its resolutions generally carry political and moral weight rather than legally binding force. Meanwhile, the Security Council’s structure gives five permanent members a veto capable of stopping substantive action.

Gaza has exposed that structural weakness with painful clarity. In June 2025, the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, despite the other 14 Council members voting in favour.

Gaza has exposed that structural weakness with painful clarity. In June 2025, the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent........

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