Middle powers can’t be bystanders as the UN falters
Finland and Australia are seeking Security Council seats with a message: The rules-based order needs countries willing to fight for it.
Middle powers like Finland and Australia recognize the importance of the United Nations in maintaining global stability. As the world grapples with the question of whether the UN has failed, they argue that the UN has, so far, saved us from hell. Over 80 years, the UN has helped prevent conflict, respond to crises, and work towards eradicating poverty, addressing climate change, and promoting human rights.
The UN's architecture of rules and standards governs systems that enable modern life, from communication and travel to food security and disease control. Without the UN, the world would be more brutal, less safe, and poorer. Countries that depend on international rules and norms cannot be bystanders in history. Both Finland and Australia have invested in strengthening the UN's capacity to mediate peace and support peace processes.
They believe the UN Security Council should be better at preventing conflicts, addressing new forms of coercion, responding to humanitarian crises, and holding all its members accountable to the UN Charter. As small countries and middle powers, they have a particular stake in making the system work and are seeking non-permanent seats on the Security Council for 2029-30.
The UN remains the only institution that brings countries together in the same room every day to discuss and address global issues, and it is crucial that it evolves and modernizes to face the future.
Written by urgent.news from Politico EU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
