The UN is running out of cash. Can it reform before it's too late?
September 22, 2025
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Ian Explains
On Ian Explains, host Ian Bremmer makes complex issues about global politics understandable. Ian Explains is a weekly segment on GZERO WORLD with Ian Bremmer, GZERO's weekly program about global news and current affairs.
As the United Nations turns 80, it’s showing its age. Born from the ashes of World War II with a mission to prevent future conflict, the UN now faces a world aflame: war in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan; humanitarian disasters in Haiti, Yemen, and the DRC; over 120 million people displaced. But even as the crises pile up, the UN is running out of money—and fast.
Ian Bremmer breaks down the UN’s looming financial crisis. The world body is funded entirely by its member states, and lately, too many of them are falling short. The US—its largest donor—has slashed contributions under President Trump. China, which now accounts for 20% of the budget, is increasingly unpredictable with its payments. And over 40 countries collectively owe more than $750 million in dues. The UN can’t borrow. It can’t run a deficit. And its most critical aid programs are at risk.
Now, Secretary-General António Guterres is cutting costs and restructuring the organization in an effort to stay afloat. His new initiative—UN80—proposes major changes: staff cuts, agency consolidation, and moving operations out of expensive hubs like New York and Geneva.
But with member states pulling back and global trust in international institutions eroding, the question isn’t just how to keep the lights on. It’s whether the UN can still do the job it was created to do.
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