Overview of Making the UN great again
This Financial Times Rackman Review episode examines the state of the United Nations at a moment of deep crisis: a deadlocked Security Council, growing skepticism toward multilateralism, severe funding pressures, and declining confidence in the UN’s ability to influence major wars. Alec Russell speaks with Thant Myint-U—former UN official and grandson of former Secretary-General U Thant—about whether the organization still has a meaningful role, what kind of leader the next Secretary-General should be, and whether the UN can be reformed to matter again.
Main themes discussed
The UN’s crisis of relevance
- Thant Myint-U argues the UN is “probably never been less relevant” in global politics.
- In major conflicts such as Ukraine, the Middle East, and Sudan, the UN is largely sidelined.
- He says the organization is also facing a severe liquidity crisis, worsened by unpaid dues and reduced willingness from major powers to fund it.
The UN has always been imperfect
- The conversation pushes back against the idea that there was a true “golden age” of the UN.
- Thant notes that the UN was seen as “not fit for purpose” almost immediately after its creation.
- Still, he argues that over the last 80 years, the UN has helped prevent a third world war, which remains its most important achievement.
The Security Council’s long-term deadlock
- The Security Council was designed to preserve peace, but has often been paralyzed by veto politics.
- Thant says the Council has never really functioned as originally intended, except for a brief period in the 1990s when U.S. influence was dominant.
- He suggests reforming the Council’s working methods may be possible, but adding new permanent veto-wielding members is highly unlikely.
The Secretary-General as mediator-in-chief
- The episode emphasizes that in practice, the UN’s most effective peacemaking has often come not from the Security Council but from the Secretary-General.
- Thant argues that from the 1950s through the 1980s, the Secretary-General was often the world’s key neutral mediator.
- He points to U Thant’s role during the Cuban Missile Crisis as an example of the office’s forgotten value.
Key arguments from Thant Myint-U
What made the UN effective in the past
- During the Cold War and decolonization era, the UN benefited from:
- Stronger U.S. engagement
- Newly independent states eager to participate
- A real appetite for neutral mediation
- The UN was able to help de-escalate or resolve many wars and crises, often through the Secretary-General rather than the Security Council.
Why later Secretaries-General had less impact
- Kofi Annan is described as the last Secretary-General who played a major mediating role.
- His successors, Ban Ki-moon and António Guterres, have been less active in high-level conflict mediation.
- Thant attributes this partly to the UN’s shift toward:
- development
- human rights
- donor-driven bureaucratic work
- peacekeeping rather than direct diplomacy
Reform should start with the world’s problems, not the institution
- Thant argues the UN should not begin by asking how to save the bureaucracy.
- Instead, the first question should be: What global problems require collective action?
- pandemic response
- climate action
- AI governance
- peace and security
- Only then should the world decide what kind of institutions are needed.
What kind of UN leader is needed now?
Desired qualities
Thant says the next Secretary-General should have:
- strong diplomatic skill
- experience as a mediator
- emotional balance and equanimity
- willingness to take risks
- the courage to accept blame and not seek personal credit
Political backing matters
- Even the best leader will be ineffective without some level of political investment from major governments and public opinion.
- Thant believes the next Secretary-General must be able to revive interest in the office quickly, especially in the first 100 days.
The importance of a visible early success
- He suggests the new Secretary-General should attempt early diplomacy on major crises like:
- Ukraine
- Sudan
- Myanmar
- the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Even if attempts fail, the office must show it can still matter as a peacemaking tool.
Selection politics and U.S./China influence
The real decision-makers
- Despite open hearings and more transparency, the selection of the Secretary-General still depends heavily on the P5:
- United States
- China
- Russia
- France
- Britain
U.S. unpredictability and China’s role
- Thant says the U.S. and China will likely be the most decisive actors.
- Beijing says it wants to invest more in the UN, but its exact position remains unclear.
- A stalemate is possible if the permanent members cannot agree on a candidate.
Trump and the UN
- The episode notes that Donald Trump has a mixed relationship with the UN:
- he criticizes multilateralism
- but also talks about the UN’s “great potential”
- Thant suggests Trump may take a strong interest in the selection process and could even try to influence it.
Notable takeaways
- The UN is not dying, but it is in a serious crisis of relevance and funding.
- Its most valuable function may be as a neutral, legitimate mediator in conflicts where great powers need an off-ramp.
- Structural reform is needed, but real change will depend more on political will than institutional tinkering.
- The next Secretary-General could still matter—if the right person is chosen and given real backing.
Bottom line
The episode’s central argument is that the UN is no longer central to global politics, but it still has a unique role that no other institution can fully replace: neutral mediation and legitimacy in moments of crisis. Thant Myint-U is cautiously optimistic that with the right Secretary-General and a modest coalition of supportive governments, the UN could enter a new chapter—less as a grand world government and more as a practical peacemaker.