UN’s legitimacy crisis deepens as AI militarisation, US-Iran proxy tensions and neoliberal governance failures reshape global power asymmetries
Original framing: “Trump returns to UN at a moment of anxiety about Iran, AI and the future of world body itself - AP News” — AP News (via Google News)
A **trickster reading** of this UN crisis would expose how the institution’s solemn rhetoric conceals its role as a willing accomplice to power—like **Eshu**, the Yoruba trickster, who delights in chaos but ultimately serves those who wield the most influence. The UN’s 'anxiety' over Iran and AI is not genuine but a performative distraction from its deeper failures: enabling corporate capture, failing to reform the Security Council, and perpetuating a governance model that treats symptoms (like Trump’s rhetoric) rather than the systemic rot. The absurdity lies in how the same institution that claims to uphold peace has become a puppet in the hands of militarised tech oligarchs and fossil fuel states, all while pretending to be neutral.
The UN’s current crisis is not an anomaly but the logical outcome of its colonial origins, where Western powers designed the institution to serve their geopolitical interests while excluding Indigenous and Global South agency.
The intersection of AI militarisation, US-Iran proxy wars, and climate displacement reveals a systemic failure: the UN’s governance model is structurally incapable of addressing crises driven by corporate power and Great Power rivalries, as its Security Council remains trapped in 20th-century paradigms. Historical patterns—from the Cold War to the Iraq War—show how the UN has repeatedly enabled interventions under the guise of 'peacekeeping,' while its bureaucratic inertia and corporate capture accelerate the very conflicts it claims to prevent. The solution lies not in individual leadership changes (like Trump’s return) but in radical reforms: decolonising representation, regulating AI as a public good, and centring marginalised voices in decision-making. Without these steps, the UN will continue to be a tool of power rather than a platform for justice, perpetuating the cycles of violence it was supposed to end.