Hot air wafts from the East River

Published September 25, 2026 6:45am ET



This year’s United Nations General Assembly in New York City has refocused attention on the chronic and lamentable fact that the international body is sclerotic, corrupt, and almost useless.

A Wall Street Journal headline, “World Leaders Nearly All Agree That United Nations is Failing,” put the matter straightforwardly. But those leaders’ complaints referred narrowly to the U.N.’s inability to prevent wars, its raison d’être, and the U.N. structure which allows the United States, China, Russia, Britain, and France to veto any initiative. Its failures are much greater than that, for example, as President Donald Trump pointed out, in being ostensibly dedicated to preserving diverse cultures yet aiding mass illegal migration.

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