We are living in an increasingly lawless, shadowy world—where international conventions and institutions are not just ignored, but actively undermined, as powerful states engage in acts amounting to state terrorism.

From Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s genocide of Palestinians to the United States’ repeated use of pre-emptive force against sovereign nations, the post–World War II global order is facing a sustained and intensifying assault.

Alongside this breakdown in international law is a deeper erosion of political trust—driven by the hypocrisy, arrogance, and double standards of Western powers, led by the United States.

Such destructive patterns are profoundly dangerous: they push the world closer to war and send a clear signal to authoritarian regimes, terrorist groups, and criminals everywhere—that the rule of law no longer matters, that might is right, and anything goes. Impunity, distortion of truth, and the collapse of democratic oversight feed this descent, unraveling the bonds of social responsibility.

And as global institutions are weakened, the world is being remilitarised—not to ensure safety, but to create fear and preserve dominance. Western governments are shifting to a so-called “war footing,” ramping up military spending while public services like education and healthcare cry out for investment. But who exactly are they preparing to fight?

Many so-called threats stem not from the expansive ambitions of foreign powers, but from the West’s long history of aggression, duplicity, and intervention.

If peace is truly the aim, as politicians claim, armed conflict must be rejected totally and the machinery of war dismantled. This requires a renewed commitment to International Humanitarian Law and the institutions built to uphold it, most notably the United Nations.

Peace can never take root without trust—between nations, and between governments and their own people. And trust cannot grow in the shadow of tanks and lies, while the rule of law is flouted.

Double standards

Nowhere is the onslaught against International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and global institutions more visible or devastating than in Israel’s genocidal assault on the Palestinian people and the recent unprovoked U.S.–Israeli attack on Iran.

While Israel’s pattern of disregarding IHL and United Nations resolutions is longstanding, its horrific actions in Gaza have elevated its criminality to unprecedented levels. Since 7 October 2023, at least 55,104 Palestinians—most of them women and children—have been killed, and an estimated 127,394 injured.

Israel’s aggression, however, is not limited to Gaza; its recent strike on Iran further underscores its insatiable appetite for violence and destruction.

While America and its allies portray Iran as an existential threat to Middle Eastern peace, it is Israel—through its nuclear opacity, genocidal violence, and open contempt for international law and institutions—that poses the greater danger. Not only to Palestinians and the wider Arab world but to the very idea of a lawful and peaceful international order.

In response to the U.S.–Israeli attacks on Iran, Secretary-General António Guterres declared:

“I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today. This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge—and a direct threat to international peace and security… I call on Member States to de-escalate and to uphold their obligations under the UN Charter and other rules of international law. At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos.”

The Secretary-General’s principled stance stood in stark contrast to the weak and evasive comments of Western leaders who, with few exceptions, predictably fell into line behind the Israel–U.S. narrative.

These shamefully spineless responses expose the structural racism embedded in global geopolitics. When atrocities are committed by Western powers or their allies, they are overlooked, excused, or justified; but when similar crimes are committed by adversaries, they are loudly condemned.

Within this morally bankrupt framework, human life is not valued equally. Palestinians—and Muslims more broadly—are too often defamed and treated as expendable, denied the rights and protections routinely granted to others, whether in war zones or as migrants seeking refuge.

The same double standard applies to citizens in Sub-Saharan Africa—in Ethiopia (where the State-sponsored Amhara genocide is ignored), Sudan, Somalia, and elsewhere – after all, they are Black and poor, and therefore invisible within a system that devalues both race and poverty.

Moral voice

In a world fractured by self-interest and materialism, and awash with double standards, the principled resolve of independent international bodies — chief among them the United Nations — is more vital than ever.

Despite being routinely sidelined, and notwithstanding its structural flaws—most notably the Security Council—and its bureaucratic density, the UN, established to promote peace and foster dialogue between nations, remains a defining achievement of humanity, serving as a symbol of unity, cooperation, and collective responsibility.

Operating outside ideology and the corrupting constraints of national self-interest, it is one of the few global institutions still capable of speaking with honesty and moral authority.

Its ethical voice is urgently needed in the face of grave violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and mounting criminality—including, but not limited to, those committed by Israel. With full U.S. backing, Israel violates IHL with brazen impunity, weaponises disinformation to obscure its actions, vilifies UN agencies and blocks aid deliveries.

The distribution of Humanitarian relief has been militarised through the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF), which UN officials have condemned as “an abomination” and “a death trap.” More than 400 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured at GHF distribution points—locations that resemble execution zones more than places of relief.

These are not isolated legal breaches, and the consequences reach far beyond Gaza. They feed a growing atmosphere of societal breakdown; they embolden impunity and criminality, erode the legitimacy of international institutions, and weaken the rule of law—from international courts to domestic policy.

But perhaps even more dangerous is the corrosion of the moral structure that underpins global society: the unwritten code of decency, restraint, and shared responsibility—without which communities unravel, hate and suspicion of ‘the other’ (especially migrants and ‘foreigners’) grow, divisions widen, and where there is division, conflict inevitably follows.

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