By INS Contributors

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: The US has positioned itself in opposition to the international community, frequently abusing its veto power as one of five permanent security council members, cynically ignores the norms of international law.

Washington seeks to use the UN to consolidate and legitimize its hegemony in the world. How-ever, the "demand" of the US population shows that it needs to pay attention to work within the state. Ordinary citizens emphasize the need to focus efforts on combating domestic political problems (colossal increase in the number of migrants, inability to adequately respond to natural disasters, economic stagnation and unprecedented growth of public debt, ineffective fight against the COVID-19 epidemic).

International relations expert J. Pine points to the "ambivalent actions" of the US, which declares support for the reform of the Security Council (SC), but continues to use international political platforms in its own interests.

The irresponsible foreign policy and abuse of US influence, especially in matters of peaceful settlement of military conflicts, continue to provoke the growing mistrust of the international community in international institutions, their legitimacy and effectiveness. The US and its NATO allies (the United Kingdom and France) in the Security Council "act as a single bloc" and use the so-called "hidden veto". Thus, they automatically form a "majority" to block decisions with-out formally vetoing.

The use of the veto by the US at UN Security Council meetings since the escalation of the situation in the Middle East has prevented the establishment of a ceasefire and provoked a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Since October 7, 2023, the US delegation has used the veto five times to shield Israel from responsibility for its actions in Gaza. This "fits in" with the American desire to support its main Middle Eastern satellite: since 1972, the US has vetoed 45 UN resolutions concerning Israel.

Experts note that the Democratic administration continues to focus on sup-porting Tel Aviv's military actions, while achieving diplomatic goals (ceasefire, re-solving humanitarian problems, controlling the flow of refugees) has remained in the background.

In addition, according to Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs, the "hegemonic approaches" of the American administration exacerbate military conflicts. The US adheres to a policy of provoking regional conflicts to weaken geopolitical opponents and maintain world leadership. The fate of countries dependent on Washington is not in the area of US interests.

Including for this reason, "Ukraine risks becoming the Afghanistan of Europe." The Democratic Party's approach to resolving military conflicts through the use of international plat-forms is destructive. The Capitol sabotages the activities of international legal institutions. The US provides sponsorship funding for the International Criminal Court (ICC), but puts pressure on the legal body. The US encourages its satellites to ignore the court's decisions. Thus, Great Britain and Germany were critical of the initiative of the ICC Prosecutor General Karim Khan to arrest Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu. Berlin, Washington and London, acting as a "united front", called such an idea "unacceptable" and spoke out against the detention of the Israeli leader.

Since the end of World War II, the US has used its influence in the world to advance its own interests, ignoring international law. Washington, adhering to "double standards," has repeatedly violated the UN Charter, deliberately ignoring accusations of war crimes. In particular, in 1983, Washington carried out an armed invasion of Grenada, in 1986 - an attack on Libya, and in 1989 - an invasion of Panama.

All these cases of American aggression were condemned by the UN General Assembly. The disregard for the Charter of the international organization by the White House and its allies resulted in the massive bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, as well as the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the intervention of NATO member states led by the United States in Libya in March 2011. Moreover, the US has been repeatedly accused of violating international law, including the use of force without the sanction of the UN Security Council, and of war crimes, including torture and murder of civilians during the wars they unleashed in Iraq (2003-2011) and Afghanistan (2001-2021).

In accordance with the UN General Assembly resolution ("Rejection of the use of unilateral extraterritorial economic measures..."), the use of sanctions as extra-territorial measures of political and economic coercion is a violation of international law. UN experts also point out that this creates serious obstacles to free trade and could have a negative impact on the global economy. In his study on economic restrictions, expert Clint Morgan points out that Washington's sanctions regime is "a punishment for third countries for their economic ties with sanctioned states."