By Dr Julienne Stéphanie Mesumbe
When the United Nations was founded in 1945, its charter carried a solemn promise: that collective security would replace unilateral force, and that law would restrain power. Eighty years later, that promise is under strain. From Ukraine to Gaza, from Venezuela to Nigeria, powerful states increasingly bypass multilateral institutions, acting alone in pursuit of their interests. For Africa, long shaped by external intervention and contested sovereignty, this trend is not abstract. It is a direct challenge to the continent’s security, agency, and place in global governance.
The January 2026 U.S. raid on Caracas, which captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro without Security Council authorization, crystallizes this shift. Justified under the familiar language of counterterrorism and narcotics control, the operation was in fact a profound violation of sovereignty. It revealed a system where legality is applied asymmetrically: smaller states are scrutinized, sanctioned, and constrained, while powerful states retain broad discretion in their own use of force. The precedent is dangerous. If sovereignty can be suspended when expedient, then Africa, already the most frequent subject of Security Council debates, risks becoming the next testing ground.
The Erosion of Multilateralism
The bypassing of the Security Council reflects a broader crisis of multilateralism. Veto politics has paralyzed the Council, preventing meaningful action in Ukraine and Gaza. The withdrawal of the United States from more than thirty UN bodies further hollowed out the system. For Africa, which has relied on multilateral institutions to balance asymmetries of power, this erosion is existential.
The parallels with the League of Nations are sobering. Founded in 1919 to prevent another world war, the League collapsed under the weight of great-power defection and institutional paralysis. When Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935, the League proved powerless. Its failure paved the way for global catastrophe. Today, the UN risks a similar fate unless reformed.
Africa’s Vulnerabilities
Africa has long been the terrain of external interventions, from Cold War proxy wars to contemporary counterterrorism campaigns. The Caracas raid underscores how fragile sovereignty becomes when legality bends to power. Nigeria’s December 2025 raid, Libya’s 2011 intervention, and France’s Sahel campaigns all illustrate how quickly doctrines of unilateralism migrate.
The continent’s vulnerabilities are compounded by resource wealth. Africa’s oil-rich states, Nigeria, Angola, Libya, Algeria, South Sudan, mirror Venezuela’s dependence on rents and governance fragility. In a world where energy security drives geopolitics, these states risk becoming targets for interventions cloaked in the language of democracy or counterterrorism.
The Path Forward
For Africa, the challenge is clear. The continent must move beyond reactive diplomacy and articulate a coherent position on the use of force, legality, and multilateral reform. Strengthening the African Union’s peace and security architecture, advancing common African positions on Security Council reform, and insisting on accountability in security partnerships are no longer optional.
Internal legitimacy is equally critical. Regimes that rule through coercion rather than consent invite foreign actors to pose as liberators. Democracy, transparency, and inclusive governance are not luxuries, they are shields against external coercion.
Conclusion
In a fragmenting world, unilateral power may appear efficient. For Africa, however, it revives old vulnerabilities. The choice ahead is not between security and international law, but between a global order shaped with African participation and one imposed without it.
On Policy Magazine remains committed to amplifying African perspectives, strengthening regional frameworks, and advancing progressive policies that accelerate the continent’s transformation. This issue brings together voices from across Nkafu and beyond to examine how force, law, and sovereignty intersect in today’s turbulent world.
