BRICS Decision Shook the Western World: End of UN?

Countries have occasionally expressed dissatisfaction with the United Nations, leading to threats or attempts to leave the organization, though no nation has fully withdrawn. One notable case is Indonesia in 1965, which declared its departure due to a dispute over Malaysia’s seat on the UN Security Council. However, the UN never formally recognized Indonesia’s withdrawal, and the country resumed participation in 1966 under a new government. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte also threatened to leave the UN in 2016 after the organization criticized his administration’s handling of the war on drugs. He accused the UN of meddling in domestic affairs but ultimately did not follow through with the threat. In the United States, proposals to withdraw from the UN have surfaced several times, especially among isolationist or unilateralist political groups. For example, the “American Sovereignty Restoration Act,“ introduced in 2017, sought to terminate U.S. membership in the UN. Though it gained some political support, such proposals have consistently failed to pass due to the potential diplomatic fallout and the influence of multilateralism on U.S. foreign policy. Countries in the BRICS alliance along with a growing number of nations from the Global South, are intensifying their calls for sweeping reforms at the United Nations. They argue that the organization is disproportionately influenced by Western powers, particularly through the UN Security Council, where five permanent members—the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, and China—hold veto power. The BRICS bloc, representing over 40% of the world’s population and nearly 25% of global GDP, has long contended that this structure is outdated. Meanwhile, 54 African countries, which account for about 28% of UN membership, have no permanent representation on the Security Council. Critics point to the fact that Western nations control over 60% of voting power in key global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, further marginalizing emerging economies. This imbalance, they argue, undermines efforts to create a truly representative global governance system. In recent years, countries like India and Brazil have advocated for expanding the Security Council to include permanent seats for large developing nations, a proposal that has gained traction but faces stiff resistance from Western powers.