Condemn all UN member states: They spend 100 times more on militarism than on the entire UN system

But did you know? Is this discussed now when the UN turn 80 in October? No, politicians, media and scholars generally focus on war and ignore humanity's most important peace-maker.

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Jan Oberg

“UNITED NATIONS, Aug 12 2025 (IPS) - The United Nations, facing a liquidity crisis, has been threatening to lay-off about 20 percent of its estimated 37,000 employees world-wide: a proposed move that has triggered widespread protests from staff unions both in New York and Geneva.”

Thus starts Thalif Dean’s analysis in a recent IPS article.

The UN is in a liquidity crisis!!!???

This is an issue the whole world should talk about NOW.

This is a situation that every thinking person should condemn in the strongest possible terms: The UN must cut down, while the rest of the world, the West in particular with its 5% of the GNP, invests perverse sums in militarism and war, while other, cheaper and more efficient, peace-making means are available.

It is not that the UN should not be reformed and made more efficient. But in whose interest is it to force the UN to become even more poor and powerless?

World military expenditure reached $2718 billion in 2024, an increase of 9.4 per cent in real terms from 2023 and the steepest year-on-year rise since at least the end of the cold war, SIPRI has just told the world.

No reaction! No outrage!

Here are key facts about the United Nations’ budget:

The General Assembly has approved a $3.72 billion budget for the United Nations for 2025. The UN regular budget funds the core administrative costs of the organisation, including the UN General Assembly, Security Council, Secretariat, International Court of Justice, special political missions, and human rights entities.

“The biggest single item of expenditure is (UN) peacekeeping, which costs $9 billion across all agencies ($7.9 billion via DPKO). Much of the rest is spent on humanitarian assistance (e.g. $ 4.5 billion from the World Food Programme, $3.2 billion from the High Commissioner for Refugees, $2.3 billion from UNICEF – the children’s fund) or development programmes (e.g. $5 billion from the UN Development Programme). Overall $14.9 billion is spent on humanitarian assistance and $12 billion on development programmes.” More here.

Thus, these main items make roughly US$ 31 billion: 4 + 15 + 12 for all the United Nations does in our world.

Thus, the UN has 1,1% of the world’s military expenditures to do good worldwide.

Or, UN member states spend 100 times more on armament and war than on the entire UN system. Further, the US, one of the largest contributors to the UN budget, does all it can to undermine the UN, leave its organisations and cut down its contribution.

And as of 7 August 2025, only 119 Member States have paid their regular budget assessments in full.

Here is how the UN is funded and who is not paying up - and more. And here is one that puts it all in perspective: “When you add up the regular UN Secretariat and peacekeeping budgets, the annual average cost of the UN for each person on the planet is about $1.25; that’s about the cost of a bag of chips…”

There exists no way the world can move towards a future with more peace and less violence as long as these priorities continue - and continue un-discussed as if they were natural, normal and healthy. The reality is that the global system is fundamentally sick, militarising itself to death. Period.

Military expenditures have never been as high as they are today, and everyone talks about the increasing risk of war, regional or global. Armament means less security, and bigger risks. And possessing nuclear weapons is a violation of international law.

In contrast, disarmament, another type of defence thinking, education about conflict analysis, resources for mediation and peace-making will, without a doubt, increase human and global security and open roads to peaceful co-existence.

The madness must stop. Therefore:

World taxpayers unite!

Refuse to pay for these perverse priorities.

Let the Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complexes, MIMAC, arrange coffee and bake sales for their - kakistocratic - militarism and war.

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See also my recent article “The UN at 80: Still humanity's most important organisation, but member states deliberately destroy it” and this conversation:

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