-Analysis-
PARIS — It was a low-profile vote at the UN Security Council on Thursday — not as resounding as the one on the Gaza ceasefire last week, which went unheeded. Thursday’s vote concerned North Korea and the renewal of the mandate of a body charged with overseeing sanctions imposed on the country.
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Russia vetoed the vote and that’s where its importance lies. Moscow has become North Korea’s protector since Pyongyang supported Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, delivering large quantities of munitions. China, Pyongyang’s other ally, preferred to abstain, a hint of the nuances that separate Beijing and Moscow on the international stage.
By “killing off” this unremarkable UN body, Russia aims to dismantle the sanctions regime against North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The sanctions remain in place, but in a month, there will be no one left to verify their application.
Crack in the system
This is yet another crack in the edifice of global governance inherited from the post-war era. Taking hit after hit, the rules of international law, the collective action embodied by the UN — in short, the dream of an “international community” — are weakening.
The system was certainly imperfect, and the right of veto — both by the U.S. to protect Israel and by Russia in favor of North Korea — is the symbol of that. But it exists as the alternative to a more or less brutal balance of power.
There is no ideological cement or even identical interests, but a shared desire to challenge the world order.
North Korea is a case in point. This dictatorial country, led by the Communist dynasty founded by Kim Il Sung after the war and now headed by his grandson Kim Jong-un, has illegally acquired nuclear weapons. Six confirmed tests attest to this, as do ballistic missile launches. Russia and China supported the sanctions imposed on North Korea.
The world order
The world has changed. For several years now, there’s been a “cold war” in the air: first between China and the United States, the 21st century’s two great competitors; and with Russia, of course, since its invasion of Ukraine a little more than two years ago.
North Korea and Iran, two paria states that were targeted by sanctions programs, have stepped into the breach by becoming Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arms suppliers. In return, Putin is helping them rid themselves of the straitjacket of sanctions that hinders them.
All this does not constitute a coherent bloc; there is no ideological cement or even identical interests. But they share a desire to challenge the world order, dominated for decades by the West, led by the United States — even if that means going through a chaotic phase to test will and resistance. Thursday’s Russian veto is part of this perilous strategy of chaos.
