[gmueckl]

The same line of reasoning leads to constitutions and laws being jokes, too.

The simple fact is that rules matter if and only if they are enforced effectively by a community. And power is the ability to direct and control that enforcement.

The international order has declined in the past one or two decades because the UN security council was hamstrung by the enormously powerful veto rights held by Russia, China and the U.S. This has slowly emboldened those countries to de-value the UN and pursue their own interests.

[XorNot]

There has never been any ability for the UN to work the way people seem to think it should work.

Because who exactly, outside of those major powers, is going to enforce anything?

[gmuslera]

It is not that laws are being jokes or not because are not in place, but ends being that way when they are in place and they are blatantly ignored, specially for some power groups or communities. Then they can break those laws with impunity, and then others follow example with varied success, but still, those laws are already a joke.