"The worsening war in Syria, allegations of child sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers and the mishandling of the Ebola epidemic cast a spotlight on the inadequacies of the United Nations in a globalized world, operating with a power structure that hasn't changed since 1945...
As it celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, the UN is hobbled by bureaucracy, politics and an inability among its five most powerful members to agree on much, including how to end Syria's conflict.
Its problems were spotlighted in a series of reports on the UN health agency's performance in last year's Ebola epidemic that blamed incompetent leadership, political considerations and economic concerns for the delay in declaring the outbreak an international health emergency - the equivalent of an SOS signal...
The paralysis shows in the debate over what the UN should be. Nearly every nation agrees that the 15-member Security Council - the UN's most powerful body - must better address threats to international peace and security. Yet every reform proposal over several decades has been rejected. National interests and regional rivalries trumped the common good...
The UN's reputation was tarnished in the past year by allegations that peacekeepers charged with protecting civilians sexually abused women, girls and children, notably in the Central African Republic.
The UN human rights office also was embarrassed by revelations this year that its top officials let multiple child sexual abuse allegations against French troops in Central African Republic linger for several months, assuming that France would act, even as French authorities pressed the UN for more details...
Perhaps the highest-profile blunder in recent years was the likely introduction of cholera in Haiti by peacekeepers. The outbreak killed more than 8,500..."