*of Stelios Odysseus
The international political scene rarely offers clear pictures. However, the path from the League of Nations (KTE) to the United Nations (UN), the recent events in the Oval Office and the ongoing pending issue of the Cyprus issue create a common canvas: the struggle for international legitimacy against revisionism.
KTE: Vision, Project and Failure
KTE was founded in 1920 with the ambition to be the first global security community. The vision of the then American president Woodrow Wilson was clear: "peace would no longer be ensured by balances of power but by an international cooperation of all states". The Society achieved some small victories – mediated border disputes between small states, encouraged international disarmament treaties – but failed in the face of the “big ones”. The absence of the US (due to the refusal of the US Congress), the insistence on the right of veto and unanimity, the emergence of authoritarian regimes and the promotion of national interests led it to institutional paralysis. With the Second World War, KTE practically collapsed, leaving a heavy legacy: "that idealistic declarations without an enforcement mechanism lead to failure".
UN: The new security architecture and political paralysis
In 1945, in San Francisco, the victors of World War II built the UN (or United Nations), learning from the mistakes of KTE. The UN Charter established a ban on the use of force, established the Security Council as a decision-making center and introduced the famous veto of the five permanent members: United States of America, Soviet Union (now Russia), China, United Kingdom, France. This structure has kept him alive for decades, but at the same time often renders him inactive.
The United Nations today faces a serious crisis, as it falters economically and, above all, politically. International law is no longer a point of reference and a tool for resolving disputes, as our President Nikos Christodoulidis pointed out. And the last General Assembly in September 2025 is described by many as having become a spectacle, a sordid international bazaar, where the current US President, Donald Trump, acts as the master regulator and exerts influence using a simplistic but effective political instinct. And the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has now turned into a manager of bilateral meetings and interests, with each leader promoting his own interests. On the issue of Ukraine, Russia's veto blocked binding decisions. In Cyprus, the UN, although a protagonist since 1974, has not been able to impose (we can fill in various verbs here) a solution, only to freeze the conflict.
The meeting in the "Oval Office": Diplomacy outside the UN (August 2025)
Recent Oval Office meetings on the Ukraine war have shown that major security issues are now being discussed in other formats (here US–EU–NATO), with the UN absent. This absence, due to the Russian presence in the Security Council, marked the choice of the West to decide in closed power structures.
What does all this mean for the Cyprus issue?
Cyprus relies on the UN as the main legitimizing framework for a solution. But the lessons are clear, especially in light of the danger of becoming a small entity threatened by great power conflicts:
Lesson from KTE: A solution to the Cyprus problem without enforcement mechanisms will remain empty. Lesson from the UN: Resolutions provide a legal basis, but a veto can render the Organization useless. Lesson from the 'Oval Office': Big security issues are discussed outside the UN.
In this context, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, from the floor of the UN General Assembly, declared the end of the federation in Cyprus and brought back the proposal for the recognition of two states. At the same time, he emphasized that he will not allow the implementation of projects that exclude Turkey and the "Turkish Republic of (North) Cyprus" - a pseudo-state in the Eastern Mediterranean. This attitude creates a vicious circle of irrationality, which prevents the exploitation of natural gas in the region.
Conclusion: Legitimacy and Power
In conclusion from KTE, to the UN and to the Oval Office, history repeats the same lesson: international legitimacy is unfortunately not enough if it is not accompanied by power and implementation mechanisms. Cyprus, Gaza as well as Ukraine are faced with the hypocrisy of the international community. The dire situation the UN has found itself in, the crisis in Gaza and Ukraine, the threat of a larger conflict involving China, and the lack of open-minded politicians and politicians in Ankara and Nicosia, make the small country part of the problem. The next solution effort must leverage all available tools so that it is not just a deal on paper.
*Primary Education Teacher
