I was Biden's man in the room at the UN Security Council. Don't let Russia, China take over

Over the past 4 years astatine the United Nations, the planetary assemblage has witnessed an alarming inclination of person collaboration betwixt Russia and China that poses a important menace to the "rules-based order" the United States helped plan backmost successful 1945.  

This accrued and renewed level of practice presents an unprecedented dilemma for the United States and like-minded partners: however to support the existing order, warts and all, erstwhile 2 imperishable members of the UN Security Council are present moving feverishly to subvert it. 

To galore UN observers, China and Russia person present travel to the shared decision that the UN has go a instrumentality Washington and its allies regularly usage to destabilize their regimes and diminish their planetary influence. Consequently, the United Nations has go a captious battleground successful the existent epoch of "Great Power" competition.  

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During my two-plus years arsenic the U.S. ambassador liable for UN Security Council matters, I person seen first-hand astatine the UN however these 2 authoritarian powers repeatedly and energetically dispersed falsehoods alleging: 

U.S. Ambassador to the Conference connected Disarmament Robert Wood attends a quality league astatine the United Nations successful Geneva, Switzerland, April 19, 2018. (REUTERS/Denis Balibouse)

• The UN’s bureaucracy is beholden to the "West";
• That the U.S. and Europe proceed to exploit countries of the planetary South successful "colonial" fashion;
• That the U.S. uses unilateral sanctions to enforce its volition connected the remainder of the world;
• And that the Western-led planetary fiscal strategy continues to subjugate the planetary have-nots.

By propagating these mendacious storylines, Russia and China anticipation to transportation processing nations that the UN and its associated mechanisms don’t correspond their views and values and that a cardinal overhaul of the multilateral strategy is urgently needed.  

It’s not arsenic if determination haven’t been informing signs. Since Russia’s unprovoked warfare of aggression against Ukraine successful aboriginal 2022 — and the robust planetary condemnation of it — Moscow has been determined to dispose of the existent order, adjacent going truthful acold arsenic to assertion determination is nary specified happening arsenic a rules-based order.

It flagrantly violates UN General Assembly resolutions connected Ukraine, defying repeated calls from UN subordinate states to retreat its troops from the country. Almost daily, it uses inflamed rhetoric and atomic saber-rattling successful the UN Security Council to endanger and intimidate nations that explicit absorption to its warfare connected Ukraine, its amerciable subject practice with North Korea, its blatant interference successful antiauthoritarian elections, and its enactment for authoritarian regimes committing horrific atrocities against their ain people.  

While this benignant of menacing Russian behaviour is not new, erstwhile viewed successful the discourse of its "no-limits partnership" with China, a burgeoning authoritarian superpower, the satellite needs to instrumentality superior notice.  

Since 2016, Beijing has been connected a relentless run to remake the UN successful its ain authoritarian image. It has worked zealously to insert into authoritative UN documents connection promoting its ain home ideological and governmental priorities, specified arsenic the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Security Initiative.  

It has prioritized backing the placement of young Chinese nationals successful the UN’s Junior Professional Officers program, which trains and develops aboriginal UN civilian servants. Through this program, the superior extremity of Beijing is not simply to make a cadre of Chinese nationals with UN expertise, but to effect the multilateral strategy with apparatchiks focused solely connected promoting the interests of the Chinese Communist Party.  

Russia and China person been moving unneurotic astatine the UN to undermine US power with the Global South. FILE: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a associated quality league with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pursuing their talks astatine the Grand Kremlin Palace successful Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Playing the agelong game, China, similar Russia, besides seeks to devalue the value of quality rights, idiosyncratic freedoms, and the relation of civilian nine successful the UN writ large, softly chipping distant astatine planetary standards and norms the United States and the immense bulk of UN subordinate states privation to preserve. Instead of withdrawing from UN institutions similar UNESCO and the WHO, the caller medication should treble down connected its engagement successful these bodies to forestall China from dominating captious areas specified arsenic AI and responses to aboriginal pandemics.  

In nationalist and closed-door Security Council meetings, I had galore verbal clashes with Russian and Chinese diplomats to firmly contention their propaganda and mendacious narratives which, if repeated often enough, statesman to resonate with states not wholly acquainted with the past and facts related to a fixed issue.  

To woo the Global South, Russia and China typically constituent to increasing economical inequality, the warfare successful Gaza, allegedly unfair restrictions connected entree to starring technologies, and what they assertion is the instability of democracies arsenic impervious the rules-based bid is failing and that the authoritarian exemplary is the question of the future.  

While astir countries of the Global South bash not subscribe to these views, it would beryllium incorrect to accidental determination isn’t immoderate increasing enactment for this enactment of thinking. The Biden administration’s telephone for UN Security Council reform, and UN Secretary General Guterres’s "Pact for the Future," a blueprint for taking the UN forward, person tried to code immoderate of the demands for alteration expressed by processing countries.  

But, should Russian and Chinese propaganda go mainstream successful Global South sermon connected the UN, demands for a cardinal overhaul of the rules-based bid volition surely turn louder and could severely weaken enactment for the UN arsenic we cognize it.  

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Friends of the United States besides pass that existent governmental divisions successful Washington and betwixt Washington and its allies are giving Russia and China the precocious manus successful this struggle. To efficaciously conscionable the infinitesimal successful this evolving, competitory strategical landscape, the Trump medication needs to wantonness anti-UN posturing and alternatively urgently deploy America's unsocial convening powerfulness to renew and fortify alliances astatine the UN.  

Chinese and Russian diplomats privately acknowledge that 1 comparative advantage the U.S. has implicit their countries is our historic, values-based alliances. However, arsenic important arsenic alliances are, they cannot beryllium a one-way street.  

The U.S. has a close to expect that partners volition not enactment to undermine its captious information interests. Nations should not expect to continually ballot against American argumentation priorities astatine the UN without being held to account. It is important that each broadside understands the other’s expectations. 

Since 2016, Beijing has been connected a relentless run to remake the UN successful its ain authoritarian image.

The U.S. also needs to actively engage the UN property corps. This was thing I undertook religiously astatine UN headquarters, making definite arsenic champion I could the U.S. constituent of presumption was factored into media reporting. This needs to beryllium a priority. If we don’t consistently propulsion retired the U.S. narrative, our adversaries volition capable the void and specify that communicative successful ways that harm our planetary lasting and interests. 

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Over the past 79 years, the United States has invested substantially successful gathering retired the UN and broader planetary system. Let’s not discarded this tremendous investment. Let’s marque the UN acceptable for purpose, guarantee it continues to unrecorded up to its charter’s foundational principles – protecting quality rights, redeeming aboriginal generations from the scourge of war, promoting a much conscionable world. We should enactment with like-minded nations, organizations and peoples to assistance it past and thrive successful what volition undoubtedly beryllium an aggravated epoch of strategical competition. 

We don’t person a infinitesimal to spare.