The world does not suffer from a shortage of institutions. What it suffers from is a weakening respect for the principles that give institutions legitimacy.

If the foundation on which a building stands is eroded, the structure is at risk. At the center of the modern international order stands the United Nations Charter. Signed in 1945 after the devastation wreaked by two world wars, the Charter was not merely a diplomatic document drafted at a conference.

It was a civilizational commitment and represented humanity's collective decision that war should no longer be treated as a normal instrument of national ambition, sovereignty should be protected, disputes should be settled peacefully, and international cooperation should serve the common progress of humanity.

Eight decades later, the authority of the Charter is under severe strain. Armed conflicts continue. Unilateral sanctions are increasingly imposed outside the UN framework. Military interventions are justified through selective interpretations of security. Global governance is divided by bloc politics.

Many smaller and developing countries fear that international rules are applied unevenly, depending on the power and interests of those involved.

This is why the world urgently needs to revitalize the authority of the UN Charter and renew the role of the UN itself. This does not mean treating the UN as perfect, but recognizing that without the Charter, the world becomes more dangerous, less predictable and more vulnerable to the rule of force.

The Charter rests on several basic principles: sovereign equality, noninterference in internal affairs, peaceful settlement of disputes, prohibition on the use of force except under limited lawful conditions, collective security, human rights, development, and international cooperation.

These principles are not abstract ideals, but the operating system of international coexistence.

Sovereign equality protects smaller countries from domination by stronger states. Peaceful settlement gives diplomacy a chance before conflict becomes irreversible. Collective security prevents individual states from claiming unlimited authority to define threats and punish others.

Development cooperation recognizes that peace cannot be separated from economic dignity. Human rights remind states that sovereignty carries responsibilities as well as protection.

The UN Charter did not weaken overnight, but due to repeated departures from its spirit.

The use of force has too often been justified without clear UN authorization. When powerful countries act first and seek legal or moral justification later, the authority of collective security is eroded.

Unilateral sanctions imposed beyond the UN framework, especially with extraterritorial effects, create a parallel system of punishment that hurts ordinary people and weakens the legitimacy of international law.

International institutions have also been pulled into geopolitical rivalry. Instead of serving as platforms for dialogue, they are sometimes used as arenas for accusation, pressure, and alignment.

At the same time, the voices of the Global South remain underrepresented in global decision-making. Many developing nations see a gap between the promise of sovereign equality and the actual distribution of power. This gap damages confidence in the system.

New global challenges make revitalization even more urgent. Artificial intelligence, climate change, pandemics, cybersecurity, debt distress, food insecurity and space governance are moving faster than existing institutions can respond.

If the UN cannot adapt to these realities, its authority will weaken not because its principles are wrong, but because its mechanisms appear inadequate.

Despite its limitations, the UN remains indispensable because it is the only international organization with near-global membership, the only institution where large and small countries sit under one roof.

The UN provides legitimacy that no military alliance, economic bloc, or informal coalition can replace. It gives developing countries a voice, creates channels of communication even when relations among major powers deteriorate, and coordinates humanitarian relief, peacekeeping, development, public health cooperation, refugee support, climate discussions, and international law.

The UN does not eliminate conflict, but it provides a place where conflict can be managed. It does not guarantee justice, but it preserves a language of justice. It does not always stop war, but without it, the world would have even fewer barriers against war.

Revitalizing the authority of the Charter requires more than speeches. It requires discipline from major powers.

They must recommit to the principle that force should not be used except in accordance with the Charter. They must avoid treating international law as a tool to be invoked when it is convenient and ignored when it is not. They must accept that security cannot be built on humiliation, exclusion, or coercion.

The UN Security Council must recover its role as the central mechanism for collective security.

Its permanent members have special privileges, but also special obligations. The veto should not become a shield for paralysis. Nor should frustration with the veto become an excuse to bypass the Charter.

Revitalizing the UN also requires making it more representative. The world of 1945 is not the world of today. Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the broader Global South now play a far greater role in global growth, population, trade, diplomacy, and development. Reform should be approached carefully but seriously, with the goal of making the UN more legitimate, balanced, and capable.

Development must also return to the center of the UN mission. Peace and security cannot be separated from development. A world of deep inequality will not be stable. Poverty reduction, infrastructure, education, health, climate adaptation, digital access, and fairer participation in the global economy should not be treated as secondary issues. They are the foundations of peace.

A Charter-based world order is not an argument against any country or bloc, but an appeal for restraint, legitimacy and survival.

It not only protects the weak from the strong, but also protects the strong from the consequences of overreach. It gives rivals a framework for coexistence and gives diplomacy time to work.

If nations return to the Charter not as a ceremonial document, but as a living framework for coexistence, the UN can be the house where conflict is restrained, dialogue remains possible, power is held accountable, and humanity remembers that peace is not the absence of disagreement, but the discipline to resolve disagreement without destroying the world we share.

The author is the president of the America China Public Affairs Institute.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

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