“The United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support—to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective—to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak—and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.”—John F. Kennedy, inaugural address, 1961
But if these words were intended as more than sanctimonious hyperbole, the world in 2018 is in perilous condition—and the U.N. has contributed to its status rather than alleviating it.
