The Psychology of UN Reform in a Changing World

United Nations reform is usually framed as a matter of efficiency: reducing bureaucracy, eliminating duplication, containing costs and improving delivery. These concerns are real, but they obscure a deeper geopolitical anxiety. Some Western governments increasingly fear that large financial contributions no longer command the authority or alignment they once seemed to secure, even as rising powers assume a greater share of the UN’s costs. The reform debate is therefore about more than budgets. It is also about shifting influence and the difficulty of governing a more plural international order. Since 1945, the UN has evolved through three broad periods. Its…