{"id":111749,"date":"2026-01-19T11:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T11:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=111749"},"modified":"2026-01-19T11:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T11:51:09","slug":"us-prioritising-power-over-international-law-antonio-guterres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=111749","title":{"rendered":"US prioritising power over international law \u2013 Ant\u00f3nio Guterres"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 9 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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The US is acting with impunity and believes its power matters more than international law; the head of the UN has told the BBC.<\/p>\n

Speaking to BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said Washington\u2019s \u201cclear conviction\u201d was that multilateral solutions were irrelevant.<\/p>\n

What mattered, he continued, was the \u201cexercise of the power and influence of the United States and sometimes in this respect by the norms of international law\u201d.<\/p>\n

His comments come weeks after the US struck Venezuela and seized its president \u2013 and in the context of Donald Trump\u2019s repeated threats to annex Greenland.<\/p>\n

Guterres said he believed the founding principles of the UN \u2013 including the equality of member states \u2013 were now under threat.<\/p>\n

President Trump has previously been scathing in his criticism of the United Nations.<\/p>\n

He used his address at last September\u2019s General Assembly to question its very purpose, claiming he had \u201cended seven unendable wars\u201d on his own and the UN \u201cdid not even try to help in any of them\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cLater I realised that the UN wasn\u2019t there for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Presented with this damning assessment, Guterres admitted his organisation was struggling to make members abide by the international laws laid out in the UN Charter.<\/p>\n

The UN was \u201cextremely engaged\u201d in solving major global conflicts, he insisted. \u201cBut the UN has no leverage \u2013 the big powers have stronger leverage.<\/p>\n

He questioned whether that extra leverage was being used to produce real and enduring solutions to those conflicts, or just quick fixes. \u201cThere is a big difference between the two things,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Guterres also said his organisation needed reform to tackle \u201cdramatic problems and challenges\u201d facing its 193 members.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are those that believe the power of law should be replaced by the law of power,\u201d the UN chief said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, when one sees the present policy of the United States, there is a clear conviction that multilateral solutions are not relevant and that what matters is the exercise of the power and the influence of the United States and sometimes in this respect by the norms of international law\u201d.<\/p>\n

He suggested the UN Security Council \u2013 designed to maintain international peace and security \u2013 no longer represented the world and was \u201cineffective\u201d.<\/p>\n

Any one of the council\u2019s permanent members \u2013 France, China, Russia, the UK or US \u2013 can currently veto resolutions. Both Russia and the US have used this power to frustrate global efforts to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.<\/p>\n

Guterres claimed vetoes were being used to further individual members\u2019 interests, and criticised the fact that \u201cthree European countries\u201d were permanent members.<\/p>\n

He called for changes to the council\u2019s composition \u2013 to \u201cregain legitimacy\u201d and \u201cgive voice to the whole world\u201d \u2013 and to limit veto powers to avoid unacceptable \u201cblockages\u201d.<\/p>\n

Guterres \u2013 a former Portuguese prime minister \u2013 took on the job of heading the UN in 2017, and will leave the role at the end of this year.<\/p>\n

In his annual remarks to the General Assembly, traditionally used to identify the organisation\u2019s priorities, he warned of a world in chaos, \u201cbrimming with conflict, impunity, inequality and unpredictability\u201d, and identified \u201cbrazen violations of international law\u201d as one of the biggest challenges facing the global order.<\/p>\n

One of the ongoing conflicts Guterres identified as key for the UN was Gaza.<\/p>\n

For large parts of the war it was prevented from distributing aid in the strip, as Israel blocked international humanitarian organisations from bringing it into the territory.<\/p>\n

At one point, Israel even backed an external contractor \u2013 the Gaza Humanitarian Organisation \u2013 to do the work the UN had traditionally carried out for decades. Hundreds of Palestinians were killed trying to access food at GHF sites.<\/p>\n

When asked if he saw the UN as powerless in Gaza where it should have made a difference, he said: \u201cOf course, but let\u2019s be clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a long time, Israel was saying that humanitarian aid was not distributed because the UN was not able to do so. Of course, whenever Israel would not allow us to move into Gaza, we couldn\u2019t move into Gaza. And then there was a ceasefire, and a massive flow of humanitarian aid.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stressed: \u201cWe were ready, provided we had the conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few days ago, Guterres told the UN General Assembly that \u201c1945 problem-solving\u201d wouldn\u2019t solve 2026 problems, referring to the organisation\u2019s founding structure.<\/p>\n

The challenges keep coming, with the US-forced change of leadership in Venezuela, regime forces in Iran killing thousands of protestors and Donald Trump\u2019s stated aim of annexing Greenland.<\/p>\n

Questions about the death of multilateralism \u2013 and the failure of some world leaders to speak out and defend the rule of international law \u2013 are growing ever-louder.<\/p>\n

But Antonio Guterres told me he was remaining positive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that people are sometimes reluctant to confront the powerful. But the truth is that if we don\u2019t confront the powerful, we will never be able to have a better world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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