The United States, Russia, NATO, Israel and other countries feel entitled to violate the United Nations Charter and the principles of international law when it suits their interests. This has been the case since the end of the Second World War and the establishment of the organization whose Charter has become a sort of global Constitution governing the 192 States that make up the international community. In the countless invasions and wars from the second half of the 20th century to the present day, the first casualty - apart from the truth - are the specific articles of the Charter that regulate the use of force and sanctions. To authorize a war, the provisions of the Charter must be complied with, and coercive measures must be approved by nine of the 15 countries that make up the Security Council.

But that is not enough. The five permanent members, i.e., China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Russia, have veto power, which means that if 14 countries approve punitive measures, it is enough for one of the big five to oppose them for the resolution not to be implemented. This is what has happened throughout the history of the organization and is the reason neither the United States nor Russia asks before attacking or invading a country. Even NATO, under Washington's command, bombed what was left of Yugoslavia for three months in 1991 in defiance of the law. What sanctions can be taken against any of the big five when they violate the UN Charter? None, that is the reality of power and the weakness of international law.

Different are the reactions and results of invasions and attacks. In 1979, the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan to protect a Moscow-friendly government and had to withdraw 10 years later. The United States did so in 2001 in search of Osama bin Laden and remained in the country for two decades. The British invaded twice in the 19th century. They all had to withdraw in defeat, with many dead, and the Taliban continues to rule in Kabul. Then came the "liberating" wars promoted by the White House in search of non-existent weapons in Iraq (2003) or to establish democracy in Libya (2011) and Syria (2014).

Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi were eliminated, but neither stability nor democracy has arrived in those countries and Bashar al-Assad continues to rule in Damascus, protected by Moscow, in what is left of his territory. On the contrary, today the Middle East is much more unstable and has become the cradle and refuge of terrorist organizations dreaming of establishing an Islamic caliphate. In other words, the violation of the United Nations Charter by those who carried out these measures brought neither democracy nor greater stability to the region. On the contrary, it has destroyed countries with hundreds of thousands of victims, billions of dollars required to rebuild them, more than a million refugees and the tragedy continues.

What differentiates the aggressions is how world public opinion treats violations of state sovereignty and the rights of people. The most emblematic case is that of Israel and the occupation and settlement of territories contrary to international law and the provisions of the United Nations Charter, which have established that annexations are invalid. The condemnations of the international community are of no use if the United States protects Israel in the Security Council.

Russia is doing the same with Syria. Failure to respect international legality is the main cause of the weakening of the multi-lateral system and represents a growing threat to world security. For this reason, a profound reform of the functioning of the United Nations is required, especially of the Security Council, which continues to respond to a post-war structure of confrontation between two military alliances in circumstances in which one, the Warsaw Pact, ceased to exist more than two decades ago with the disappearance of the Soviet Union. Thus, we will continue to be governed globally by five powers that monopolize the use of force and abuse the international structure, where the rest of the countries are only spectators.