Ethics Is Not Optional: Why the Future of the UN Depends on Taking Moral Dilemmas Seriously

Dietrich Werner (Dr), Globethics President, January 2026.

As the United Nations moves beyond its 80th anniversary, calls for reform are growing louder. Much of the debate focuses on structures, mandates, funding gaps, and geopolitical deadlock. These issues matter. But beneath them lies a deeper and more uncomfortable truth: many of today’s global crises are not only political or technical problems — they are ethical ones.

From artificial intelligence to armed conflict to declining trust in governance, the world faces choices that cannot be resolved by data, law, or power alone. They require judgments about fairness, responsibility, dignity, and the kind of future we want to build together. Yet within the UN system, ethical reflection often remains implicit and fragmented — present in rhetoric, but rarely central to policy formation.

If multilateralism is to remain legitimate and future-oriented, ethics can no longer sit in the background. It must move closer to the core of how global decisions are framed and justified.

The Quiet Ethical Deficit in Global Governance

The UN was founded as a values-based project. Its Charter speaks of human dignity, justice, peace, and shared responsibility. Over time, however, institutional practice has leaned toward what is urgent, technical, and politically feasible. Ethical questions are often reduced to legal compliance or diplomatic compromise.

This creates a growing gap. We see it when decisions are legal but widely perceived as unjust, when short-term efficiency undermines long-term wellbeing, when power outweighs principle, and when those most affected have the least voice. The result is not only policy failure, but a loss of moral credibility. Without moral credibility, multilateralism becomes fragile.

Ethics is not about moralising. It is about making value conflicts visible and developing shared orientations for action when interests and principles collide. This function is becoming more important in a fractured and fast-changing world. Three areas make this especially clear: artificial intelligence, peace and security, and governance.

AI Ethics: When Technology Outruns Moral Frameworks

Artificial intelligence is transforming economies, security systems, and democratic processes. But ethical frameworks are struggling to keep pace. AI raises moral questions about accountability when systems cause harm, about how much decision-making should be delegated to machines, about whether AI will deepen global inequality, and about whether some uses — such as lethal autonomous weapons or mass surveillance — undermine human dignity itself.

These issues cannot be solved by engineers alone or by national regulation, since digital systems cross borders. They require global ethical reflection that asks not only what is possible, but what is acceptable. While the UN has begun engaging AI governance, efforts remain fragmented. What is missing is sustained dialogue about trade-offs — efficiency versus fairness, innovation versus precaution, security versus freedom.

Peace Ethics: Beyond Ceasefires and Deterrence

War and peace inevitably involve ethical dilemmas, yet they are rarely addressed as such in formal UN processes. When, if ever, is military intervention justified? How should civilian harm be weighed against strategic goals? Are sanctions ethical if they hurt vulnerable populations? How long should injustice be tolerated for the sake of stability?

Today’s security threats also extend beyond armed conflict. Climate change, pandemics, and inequality destabilise societies, yet security policy still leans heavily on military logic. Peace ethics broadens the lens, emphasising prevention, dialogue, and shared human security. It challenges zero-sum thinking and highlights interdependence — the idea that one state’s security cannot rest on another’s lasting insecurity.

The Ethics of Responsible Governance

Global governance faces a crisis of trust. Many people feel decisions are made far away by actors they cannot influence. Power imbalances shape outcomes in ways that seem opaque and unfair.

Here, ethics asks a basic question: what is political authority for? An ethics of responsible governance views power as stewardship. Authority carries obligations: to act transparently, justify decisions, consider long-term consequences, and include those most affected, especially marginalised groups. Representation gaps — affecting small states, Indigenous communities, youth, and much of the Global South — are not only political problems, but ethical ones grounded in dignity and voice.

Making Ethics Visible in the UN

Across these domains, ethical questions are everywhere but rarely addressed in an integrated way. They are folded into technical debates, sidelined by political feasibility, or considered only after harm occurs. This reactive approach is no longer sufficient.

Making ethics more visible in the UN does not mean turning diplomats into philosophers. It means creating a structured space to ask: What values are in tension? Who benefits and who bears the burden? How are future generations affected? Are we choosing what is easiest over what is defensible?

Bringing such questions into systematic dialogue could strengthen coherence across the UN, rebuild trust, and anchor multilateral action in shared human concerns rather than shifting power alone.

This blog is based on a longer essay by Dietrich Werner.