German president warns global order under threat, urges UN reform

Erosion of international norms

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned Monday that the international rules-based order is facing unprecedented strain, telling the Hamburg Sustainability Conference that long-standing global norms are increasingly under threat. Speaking at the opening session, Steinmeier said global politics is increasingly shaped by "raw power politics, zero-sum thinking, and confrontation," replacing cooperative foundations with a rising spirit of ruthlessness.

"We live in a time when the international rules that have guided us for decades are under threat, when some powerful states no longer recognize these rules and brazenly break them when they stand in the way of their own power interests," he said, according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung daily. "A spirit of brutality and ruthlessness is blowing through international politics," Steinmeier added, describing an environment where raw power supersedes diplomatic engagement.

UN reform imperative

Despite these developments, Steinmeier stressed that abandoning multilateral cooperation would be the wrong course, urging renewed global commitment to institutions capable of delivering concrete results. He cautioned that withdrawal from the United Nations would prove short-sighted and fatal for international stability.

"A withdrawal from the United Nations would be short-sighted and fatal. Nevertheless, the UN must change, must become more efficient and effective, must prove that it can deliver better results than the strongmen with their fantasies of omnipotence," he said. The German president spoke as delegates gathered in Hamburg to address sustainability challenges amid mounting geopolitical tensions.