"Only when all its members - especially in the Security Council - possess equal power, and every decision and resolution is dealt with democratically, will the UN be effective and forceful."

So let's wind it up immediately, then, rather than continue forever ineffectively.

I personally vote for winding it up. Why should a mad theocratic government in Iran, or a totally corrupt government like Russia, or a massive human rights violator such as Sudan have the same rights and voting power as democracies such as US, UK, NZ, Canada and Australia etc.

A very small minority of governments in the world act in any way accountably and openly, with minimal corruption and minimal abuse of law and with true political equality amongst its citizens. A vast majority are corrupt, swaggering dictatorships - either civil or religious - and should have no rights to tell the world what it can or should do until their own countries join that small minority.

Kevin it is all very well to complain about the mess in Sudan and the theocrats in Iran but the reality is that Russia and the US are the world's biggest rogues.

The US has trained and armed more "terr'sts" than any country on earth in the School of the Americas (now Whisc) in Fort Benning, Georgia. They have "changed" more regimes, bombed more countries, inflicted more massacres and chaos on more countries than any other nation on earth since 1946.

Let's all stop being hypocrites and pretending we are the good guys while the US and UK give Israel their blessings to bomb Lebanon back 20 years, to destroy the infrastructure of the south and anything at all to do with shi'ite muslims.

What happened in Iraq is a catastrophe of mammoth proportions and every single moment of it has our hands on it, we all have the blood of tens of thousands of Iraqis on our hands via our deranged government.

Lebanon was a proxy war to see if it might work against Iran. It has left innocent Lebanese people without a life or means of existence based on the bogus notion that today's Lebanese Hezbollah is the same as the 1982 Hezbollah that was formed to kick out the invading Israelis'.

While we pretend to be the good guys we are the bad guys to the rest of the world.

I believe the UN needs to be wound up, as it now appears to be more of a hinderance to what needs to be done than a help. Yep wind it up.

Is there any wonder why there is an imbalance of power & influence in the UN.

"He who pays the piper calls the tune"

Those who are dissatisfied can start a reformation by contributing money/materials/personnel on a par with the West.

So close down the UN and then what?

Rely on USA and Russia to sort out the world's problems?

Stuff of nightmares.

Time to strengthen the UN instead of bickering about it.

I wish national laws were like the UN’s. When I don’t want to abide by a resolution I opt out or/and go my own way. Can’t have the oil and gas well opt out of the seabed treaty can’t go to war well ignore the security council substituting propaganda and lies to take the nation on board. Hype the nation as France, Holland, Portugal, Russia UK and America have using the restriction of patriotism (and fear) as method.
So the UN lacks the power, police and courts (and I guess jails and nooses) to enforce universal laws similar to those we have at National level.
Nations can and do say, "we say who comes here" or run their own little bully shops the latest perhaps the American Century.
Such national behaviour hyped to a relatively uninformed electorate aided by media which as in Nazi Germany merely act as cheerleader to the popular will and lead by people whose main aim seems to be at best their party not all people and at worst cliques like the cabals we see presently and in history; spin for their barrow.
How to change it. Time. Village to town to country to state represents a widening of command and control structures perhaps on the whole with beneficial intent for humans as a group. The next leap it seems to me is halted by lack of, not civics but world view of man’s place rights and obligations. We are still at the adolescent stage of comparing our various attributes with hubris against all others; our needs ignoring others.
Can’t change Human Nature? But basic selfish fearful of strangers people of the hermit became those of the tribe of the people and there has stuck. Behaviour has changed at least by self interest. I do not drive on the right of the road I am generally polite and law abiding I do try to analyse the hyped pressures of nationalism fear selfishness and so on as do most nationals here. I have learnt such is in my interests it may also satisfy some inner satisfaction.

What might drive such behaviour. Need, self interest.
Man a plague species seems to have reached such numbers as to exceed the ability of earth to provide. Technology has allowed us to this point and may take us further but it is in my view can only do so for a time before a crash. This is basic biology and physics not political gaming. Left or right, Islamic or Christian
It will be to our individual and collective advantage to co operate, to rid ourselves for the flamboyant self intent figures that grace our history books and the present.
The alternative and probably the one we will follow is to embroil ourselves in wars for water, energy, food and other resources, as indeed we already do, but at a more destructive and wider level of activity.
Naturally we will brand any dissenters as terrorist or unbelievers, the relatively safe and comfortable leaders praising their followers, crocodile tears at funerals at which some almighty will be praised for goodness and brown nosed to relieve us of the mess we have made.

"Unfortunately, as far as peace and security are concerned, the veto has served only served the interest of the superpowers since the UN’s creation"

So true. I think the simplest, most effective measure would be to remove veto power altogether

I think it is time to staff the UN with people who have a committment and the self-interest to see the organisation run effectively.

That is, rather than nameless faceless ambassadors interested only in doing the bidding of their respective governments, we need directly elected representatives interested in, and personally responsible for fixing the problems facing the United Nations.

If we elect a bunch of bums who turn out to be failures, then we can elect someone else. If some country doesn't want to elect their representative, fine, but they don't get a say in any decisions made by the UN.

It's time we have some real democracy, not some fake security council "reform" to keep the powerful happy rubbish. Get rid of the security council and have elected representatives. That way, when things go wrong, we know exactly who to blame and how to get rid of them.