Yet, such successes are now few and far between. In fact, just when some of the world’s biggest crises arrived and ones that involved great powers, the UN has fallen short at best and been ineffective at worst. No place is more representative of that shortcoming than the UN Security Council (UNSC).

In two instances when quick decision-making was needed to stop bloodshed this year, the UNSC has shown us that it is a non-functioning body designed for grandstanding and political sermonizing rather than delivering quick action. Most often, what we get is nothing more than a statement of condemnation, which carries no political consequences for anyone involved.

In March, in response to the military coup in Myanmar and the subsequent bloody crackdown, the United Kingdom proposed a Security Council statement to warn the military junta that there would be “further measures” against the country if the violence did not stop. China and Russia vetoed the proposal, and the Council has still managed only to issue a statement calling for restraint.

On Sunday, when Israel pummeled Gaza, bombing civilian buildings including media offices, resulting in the deaths of Palestinians including children, the UNSC did convene a meeting, allowing the airing of grievances from all sides, yet no resolution or strongly worded statement came out of the session.

The United States twice blocked a joint statement condemning Israel for the action and calling for a ceasefire. "Regrettably, simply because of the obstruction of one country, the Security Council hasn't been able to speak with one voice," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

And it is this great power rivalry that has increasingly gotten in the way of the UNSC getting anything done. Great powers have regularly sparred at the UN, but in recent years it has reached an alarming level, especially when it involves the United States, Russia and China, the International Crisis Group (ICG) wrote in its briefing in 2019.

Despite the absence of evidence to support the accusation that Russia and China coordinated their efforts behind the scenes, the ICG concluded that the confrontational approach taken by Russia, China, the United States and major western powers has “arguably reduced the effectiveness of the UNSC”, to a point where it dubbed the UNSC a council of despair.

We are all losers in a world where the United Nations, especially the Security Council, fails to take action in dealing with the most pressing problem of the day, where the lives of millions of people are at stake.

Today, civilians both in Gaza and Israeli territories are in dire need of a political solution that could immediately end the escalating violence.