I wonder when the UN General Assembly will rebel against the Security Council, especially the Permanent 5. Will their elected representatives on the Security Council ever decide to disregard the vetos?
Now that Trump has joined Putin and Xi in demonstrating that they are both bullies and instable what credibility do they retain? All of them are also demonstrating that they are all hat and no cattle. None of them have the wherewithal to back up their bluffs. Putin isn't pushing any buttons. Xi is pulling out of Panama. Trump is starting to get whiplash from the number of reversals he is announcing. All of them are short of cash, soldiers and weapons, and I include Xi in that. He is still trying to build up his forces and, at the same time, looking for generals who will both show initiative and follow orders while building a modern army. I think that even now, with or without US help, though probably with Korean and Japanese help, the PLA would have difficulty getting any force across the Straits and lodged on Taiwan.
Are they as fearsome as they were? All three of them?
What happens if the General Assembly, together with the non-permanent members, chose to ignore the permanent members and act in defiance of their vetos? I'd like to think that the Brits and the French would work with the General Assembly. Similar dynamics created the parliamentary system and the primacy of the Commons.