MASSOUDIEH, LEBANON — The United Nations is like a Hollywood starlet without make-up. From afar, the aura overshines any blemish. Bump into her on the street, however, and the illusion quickly fades away. 

Idealistic students and activists might embrace the United Nations as a bulwark of principle, but only those inside see the stifling bureaucracy, wasteful spending among upper management, and the sacrifice of principle for politics. The Saddam Hussein-era Oil-for-Food corruption scandal was an exception only in that top bureaucrats got caught before the institution and those investing in the status quo could circle the wagons until public attention moved on. Secretary-General António Guterres likes to jet-set the world and virtue signal on the U.N. dime as much as Kofi Annan did, but he has done little to streamline U.N. functions or focus more on managing a multibillion-dollar organization than profiting from its perks.