UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Tuesday that the world now faces its highest number of simultaneous conflicts since the United Nations was founded, warning of a "dangerous erosion" of international law as violations go unanswered and impunity spreads. Speaking at a high-level debate chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi — with more than 100 countries expected to participate — Guterres cited seven interconnected crises straining the postwar multilateral order, including geopolitical mistrust, record military spending, the rise of autonomous weapons, and the worsening climate emergency. He called on member states to uphold international law without double standards and urged reform of global institutions, singling out the absence of permanent African representation on the Security Council (the UN's most powerful body, tasked with maintaining international peace and security) as a "historic injustice" that undermines its legitimacy.