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2025 should have been a year worth celebrating, marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. However, it risks being recorded in history as a year when the international order established since 1945 began to unravel.
Cracks had already appeared. Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, intervention in Libya, and the Ukraine conflict, some permanent members of the UN Security Council have increasingly seen the illegal use of force as routine. The failure to act on genocide in Gaza is viewed as a denial of fundamental human values. These divisions have fueled escalating violence in the Middle East, with the latest chapter including attacks on Iran.
The rule of power threatens the multilateral trading system. Widespread tariffs have disrupted value chains, pushing the global economy into a spiral of high inflation and stagnation. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has been hollowed out, and the \"Doha Development Round\" is all but forgotten.
The aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis exposed the failures of neoliberal globalization, yet the world remains trapped in austerity policies. Choices that prioritize rescuing super-rich individuals and large corporations over the interests of ordinary people and small businesses have exacerbated inequality. According to a report by Oxfam, the wealthiest 1% globally have accumulated $339 trillion, equivalent to 22 times the resources needed to eradicate global poverty over the past decade.
Constraints on national action have led to public distrust of institutions. Rising discontent has become a breeding ground for extremist narratives, threatening democracy and using hate as a political tool.
Many countries have cut cooperation programs rather than doubling efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Limited resources, high costs, bureaucratic channels, and conditions often ignore local realities.
This is not just a charitable issue but a deep-rooted problem of inequality stemming from centuries of exploitation, interference, and violence, affecting populations in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. In a world with a total GDP exceeding $100 trillion, over 700 million people still suffer from hunger and live without electricity or safe drinking water, which is unacceptable.
The wealthiest countries bear the greatest historical responsibility for carbon emissions, yet the poorest countries will suffer the most severe consequences of the climate crisis. 2024 was the hottest year on record, indicating that reality is evolving faster than the Paris Agreement. Obligations under the legally binding Kyoto Protocol have been replaced by voluntary commitments, and the promised $100 billion annually in climate finance from the Copenhagen Climate Conference (COP15) in 2009 has never materialized. Analysts note that recent increases in NATO military spending make this even more unlikely.
Attacks on international institutions overlook the tangible benefits these multilateral systems bring to people's lives. If smallpox has been eradicated, the ozone layer protected, and labor rights upheld in most parts of the world, credit is due to the efforts of these institutions.
In an increasingly polarized era, terms like \"de-globalization\" have become commonplace. But we cannot \"de-earth\" our shared existence.
No high walls can isolate violence and suffering, allowing islands of peace and prosperity to survive.
Today's world is vastly different from 1945. New powers have risen, and new challenges have emerged. If international organizations appear ineffective, it is because their structures no longer reflect current realities. Unilateralism and exclusionary actions worsen due to a lack of collective leadership. Lula argues that the solution to the crisis of multilateralism lies not in abandoning it but in rebuilding it on a fairer, more inclusive basis.
This is Brazil—a country committed to promoting international cooperation—as demonstrated during its chairmanship of the G20 last year and its current chairmanship of BRICS and the 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP30). Even in adverse circumstances, common ground can be found.
Lula emphasizes the urgent need to recommit to diplomacy, rebuilding the foundation of true multilateralism—a multilateralism that responds to humanity's fears about the future. Only then can we stop passively witnessing the worsening of inequality, the absurdity of war, and the destruction of our own planet.
Author Bio:
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the President of Brazil.
