The Rule Of Force Versus The Rule Of Law: Human Rights, Hierarchy, And The Existential Crisis Of The Un Order In 2026
- IJLLR Journal
- May 11
- 2 min read
Disha Choudhary, School of Law, Justice and Governance, Gautam Buddha University
ABSTRACT
What significance would it hold for international human rights law if those states that drafted such provisions start considering themselves no longer obligated to follow them? The rules-based international order since 1945 has been challenged by an unprecedented existential crisis in 2026. This article argues the erosion of multilateralism by growing legal nihilism & impunity among great powers. Using an interdisciplinary analysis of the 61st session of the Human Rights Council, it shows how U.S. withdrawal from international institutions, China’s “illiberal multilateralism” & Russia’s “sovereignty-based international relations” have all contributed to the UN's inability to exercise its normative authority.
The research analyses the validity of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter through the case study of Operation Absolute Resolve, the 2026 U.S. military intervention in Venezuela. Comparing the international reaction to Ukraine, Gaza, and Venezuela highlights a “hierarchy of concern” and a “selective application” that undermines the universality of international law. It also identifies the “financial sabotage” on the OHCHR, highlighting a liquidity crisis that has left treaty bodies and special procedures paralysed.
Consequently, to achieve its primary objectives, this research examines alternative radical structural solutions, such as establishing the “Article 109 Coalition” and a “Second UN Charter,” to circumvent the veto power of the P5 and prevent a return to an anarchic world governed by the principle of Westphalian states. Furthermore, the paper concludes that the multilateral crisis is a moral and political choice, rather than a legal or technical failure; whether to submit to a world where those who have the power dictate their own laws of coercion, or whether to rebalance that power within an international law-based system based on human rights.
Keywords: Rule of Force, Legal Nihilism, Operation Absolute Resolve, Hierarchy of Victims, Article 109 Coalition, Second UN Charter.
