US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US values international institutions like the UN, but believes the system is failing to fulfil its potential and addressing issues beyond its intended mandate.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said the world currently lacks a sufficiently effective international system to deal with major conflicts, citing tensions between Thailand and Cambodia, the potential for conflict between India and Pakistan, and ongoing crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan and Rwanda.
Rubio said it “would be great” if a functional international mechanism existed to address such disputes, while arguing that the existing international order has moved beyond what he described as its original purpose.
Speaking to reporters in New York, Rubio said the US recognises the value of the international system and that institutions such as the United Nations have significant potential. However, he said the system was not delivering on that potential and had become involved in issues beyond its intended mandate.
“We see the utility in the international system. We’re here…I think the President has said that the United Nations, for example, has tremendous potential, but it’s not living up to it…,” Rubio said.
Rubio said there was broad agreement among leaders attending the high-level UN General Assembly session that the international system was not functioning effectively. He argued that the system needed to return to what he called its proper focus and role.
“I think multiple leaders…pointed to the fact that the international system is failing, and it’s failing because it has grown beyond its mandate. It has grown beyond its intent. It’s involved in all kinds of things that shouldn’t be involved in, and it’s unable to solve virtually any major conflict in the world,” he added.
Referring to recent and potential regional disputes, Rubio said a more effective international framework could have a role in addressing conflicts such as the fighting between Thailand and Cambodia and possible tensions between India and Pakistan.
“But it’s broken because it broke itself. It needs to be brought back to its proper focus and its proper role. It would be great if we had a functional international system, for example, that could deal with a war between Thailand and Cambodia that occurred, or a potential conflict between India and Pakistan…Right now, we don’t seem to have a functional international system that can address it,” he said.
Rubio also stressed that the US would continue to prioritise its own national interests in the absence of an effective international framework.
“I want to be clear because this is not an attack on the international system. But at the end of the day, the US will always act, at least as long as President Trump is in office, we will always act in the national interest of our country, not in the interest of the international order. We will never put the international order above the interest of the US,” Rubio said.
