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When the Allied Powers signed the United Nations Charter in 1945, they envisioned a peaceful international system capable of preventing another global conflict like the two devastating world wars that came before it. Eight decades on, that vision is under unprecedented strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at the Australian Institute of International Affairs Queensland\u2019s Multilateralism in Peril<\/em> event, Dr Susan Harris Rimmer from Griffith Law School saaid the erosion of the UN\u2019s founding ideals can be traced to a \u201cliquidity crisis\u201d within the system, persistent violations of the UN Charter by member states, and the mounting pressures of the climate emergency. She argued that these overlapping challenges are testing the capacity of multilateral institutions to respond collectively to global problems in an increasingly fragmented world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Harris Rimmer said the emergence of regional blocs such as BRICS reflects both a response to and a symptom of fragmentation. As nations seek new avenues for influence outside the traditional multilateral system, she warned, power is becoming increasingly dispersed \u2013 potentially reshaping international norms and institutions that have defined the post-war order. Yet, she noted, this shift also presents an opportunity to rethink global cooperation in a way that better reflects new realities, particularly the growing influence of the Global South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Challenges to Collective Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The United Nations is facing what Dr Susan Harris Rimmer described as a \u201cliquidity crisis\u201d \u2014 a severe financial shortfall driven largely by late or unpaid membership contributions, resulting in a major cash deficit across its operations. Consequently, the UN has been forced to implement sweeping spending cuts and freeze staff recruitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Harris Rimmer noted that the organisation\u2019s core budget is projected to contract by around 30 per cent in 2025, falling to less than US$500 million, with staffing levels operating at only about one-fifth of what is needed to meet its mandates. She warned that this funding squeeze will have direct humanitarian consequences, with an estimated \u201c114.4 million people identified as needing urgent life-saving assistance as of June 2025.\u201d The return of Donald Trump to the United States presidency has further exacerbated the UN\u2019s financial strain. As the organisation\u2019s largest contributor, the United States traditionally provides around 22 per cent of the UN\u2019s core budget, 25 per cent of peacekeeping funds, and more than 40 per cent of global humanitarian aid. However, in 2025, U.S. contributions have reportedly fallen to about US$300 million \u2014 an 80 per cent reduction from the US$1.5 billion allocated last year. Dr Harris Rimmer said this dramatic contraction has deepened the UN\u2019s liquidity crisis, forcing the organisation to scale back operations, delay payments to field missions, and suspend new project funding. She noted that Washington\u2019s retreat from multilateral financing sends a signal far beyond the budget, undermining confidence in the UN\u2019s stability and encouraging other member states to withhold or reduce their own commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the Global Humanitarian Overview<\/em><\/a>, which spans more than 70 countries, the UN and its partners aim to reach nearly 180 million vulnerable people, including refugees and internally displaced populations. The appeal requires US$44 billion, yet by mid-year only US$5.6 billion had been received – highlighting the widening gap between global needs and available resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Harris Rimmer also pointed to the persistent violation of the UN Charter by member states as a major factor of the \u201creducing faith in the UN\u201d and the eroding credibility of multilateralism. She noted that despite the Charter\u2019s foundational principles of\u201cpreventing war, ensuring dignity and increasing living standards for all\u201d, these norms are routinely breached with limited consequences. From Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine to ongoing conflicts in Gaza, Myanmar and Sudan, powerful states continue to act unilaterally in pursuit of national interests, often paralysing the UN Security Council through vetoes or political deadlock. This pattern, she argued, exposes a deeper legitimacy crisis \u2014 one in which the rules exist, but the mechanisms to enforce them no longer command the authority they once did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, the accelerating climate crisis represents one of the most urgent and complex challenges to multilateral cooperation. She noted that the world has already entered a phase of ecological overshoot, with humanity consuming natural resources faster than the planet can regenerate them. This results in global temperatures exceeding the 1.5 degrees above the temperature during pre-industrial times as set out in The Paris agreement of 1.5 degrees above the temperature pre-industrial times. However, in October 2025, Secretary-General of the United Nations Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a> acknowledged it is now \u201cinevitable\u201d that humanity will overshoot that target, with \u201cdevastating consequences\u201d for the world. The ecological overshoot breaches several key planetary boundaries, including those governing biodiversity loss, land use and chemical pollution. Global temperatures continue to surge at rapid pace, leading to more frequent and deadly heatwaves, with heat-related deaths projected to become more common in the coming decades, with a report conducted by the World Health Organization showing that fatalities caused by heat has exponentially increased by approximately 85 per cent between 2000-2004 and 2017-2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Harris Rimmer warned that these intersecting crises expose the limits of the current multilateral system that struggled to coordinate effective, binding action despite overwhelming scientific consensus. She argued that unless the United Nations and its member states can translate ambition into enforcement, the climate crisis will continue to erode both human and environmental security and institutional legitimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Rise of Regional Blocs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n