On 25 May, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported that UN peacekeeping initiatives have been pushed to the brink of collapse by a “perfect storm” of geopolitical factors.
“If things continue in this way, we could see a dramatic weakening of multilateral conflict management and the near-complete sidelining of institutions like the United Nations, due to a perfect storm of funding, political and geopolitical factors,” said Dr Jair van der Lijn, director of the SIPRI Peace Operations and Conflict Management Programme.
He added that “The result is likely to be more conflicts, and these conflicts are likely to have even graver impacts on civilians as states abandon long-established norms.”
The report attributes the collapse in funding as the primary factor behind the decline in peacekeeping capabilities.
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In July 2025, UN peacekeeping had faced a staggering $2 billion shortfall, representing more than 35 percent of its total 2024—2025 budget, with the lack of “predictable funding” forcing several missions to slash the number of deployed personnel significantly.
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This financial crisis is driven by major donors failing to pay their financial commitments either on time or in full. The Global South now provides all of the top 10 military personnel contributors to multilateral peace operations, with Uganda, Nepal, Bangladesh, and India leading the group.
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Within the UN Security Council (UNSC), “hardline demands and veto threats” from permanent members have complicated the process of renewing mission mandates.
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In 2025, in Lebanon, amid continuous ceasefire violations by Israeli forces, the U.S. and Israel pushed for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the country to be dismantled. As a compromise, the UNSC voted to renew the mission for a final time until December 2026.
The report warns that due to political friction within established institutions, international responses are increasingly moving toward more unilateral or bilateral security arrangements that prioritize the self-interest of individual states over collective security.
The report further notes that regional organizations have been unable to step into the vacuum left by the UN.
“Regional organizations lack key capabilities when it comes to successful, integrated peacebuilding, while they are also plagued by funding shortfalls and inability to reach agreement like the UN,” said Dr Claudia Pfeifer Cruz, senior researcher in the SIPRI Peace Operations and Conflict Management Programme.
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She added that “As UN-led conflict management recedes, it is leaving a growing gap that alternative models are unable to fill.”
Despite the bleak outlook, Dr Cruz maintains that the collapse of multilateral conflict management is not inevitable, noting that there remains widespread support in principle for UN peace operations.
She emphasizes that to sustain these efforts, member states must move beyond mere rhetoric and commit to consistent funding and the political space necessary for effective multilateral responses to succeed.
While international peacekeeping struggles with the funding shortfall, a separate April report by SIPRI showed that global military expenditure had climbed to a record-breaking $2.887 trillion, rising for the 11 th consecutive year of growth. This was driven by widespread rearmament and geopolitical upheaval, with over half of the total spending concentrated in the U.S., China, and Russia
The nearly $3 trillion spent in 2025 represents a 2.9 percent increase in real terms over the previous year. This brings the global military burden, or military expenditure as a share of global GDP, to 2.5 percent, the highest level recorded since 2009.