"Attempts to undermine the role of the UN and establish a certain 'community (club) of democratic nations' instead of it are also of particular concern. Such ideas do not unite but divide humanity, contribute to international tensions and ultimately lead to direct confrontation", Medvedev wrote in an article titled "75th Anniversary of the United Nations: Old Problems, New Challenges, and Global Solutions" published on the broadcaster RT's website.
"No other international organisations, let alone military alliances, can undermine the UN principal organs' monopoly on the expression of the will of the world community. The dilution of the responsibility for global security attempts by various organisations and certain nations to stigmatise states and governments and decide the fate of the world would invariably throw us back decades", he added.
Medvedev noted that the mechanisms laid down in the UN Charter have largely helped humanity to avert World War III, although international players have not always learned the right lessons from the past.
"Despite all the problems and crises that the United Nations and its member states have faced over these years, it is hard to disagree that it is largely thanks to the international legal and political mechanisms established by the UN Charter that we managed to avoid plunging into an all-out third world war and deal with many critical issues when shaping the post-war world order", Medvedev's article read.
The prominent Russian politician added that the world had still managed to repeat past mistakes.
"I will remind you that, when the UN founding members, including the USSR, created the organisation, they formulated its mission, which includes three principles: commitment to a stable and safe world, promotion of human rights, and building a more just world order", Medvedev wrote.
He stated that UN agencies have put in a lot of effort to protect the world and to launch mechanisms for settling conflicts within a legal framework and that only assessments made by the UN Security Council help understand who is responsible for military conflicts and avoid fake news.
"In many corners of the world, hotbeds of military confrontation persist, people are dying every day. As a rule, it takes a coordinated legal assessment of a situation by the UN Security Council to understand who is right and who is wrong, who is the aggressor and who is the victim. Otherwise in the era of fake news, falsification of facts, and hybrid warfare there is the risk that black would be presented as white, unlawful as legitimate, and true facts would be buried behind catchy TV images and social media posts", Medvedev says in the article.
Global Security Issues
In his article, the ex-president also noted that Russia is counting on reciprocal steps from its Western partners with respect to the Moscow-led moratorium on the deployment of new missile systems in Europe.
"At the same time, we need not only to ensure the reduction of the existing arms but also to minimise the risks of possible new threats. In this vein, Russia has declared a moratorium on the deployment of new missile systems in Europe and other regions. We expect to see our Western partners take reciprocal steps", the article read.
Medvedev stressed that the issue of extending the New START arms reduction deal between the United States and Russia requires a prompt resolution.
"The issue of prolongation of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (the New START Treaty) also needs to be promptly resolved. We have already articulated our position concerning the extension of this crucial document", he said.
The White House earlier offered a one-year extension to the deal, but in exchange for Moscow capping the buildup of its nuclear arsenal, which is not stipulated by the original New START. Washington also insisted on the mandatory participation of China in the agreement, which Beijing has already rejected, stressing its nuclear arsenal is very small in comparison to the US and Russia.
Failed States in Post-Soviet Expanse
According to Medvedev, there are "failed states" among the post-Soviet countries that have not been successful in building a strong political system and providing their citizens with confidence in the future.
Medvedev stressed that a weak state would be unable to ensure its citizens' rights and protect itself from global threats.
"The dramatic transformation of the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich vividly illustrated that the provision of broad democratic freedoms, without backing them up with economic growth, welfare, and the state's ability to proactively address extremist manifestations, inevitably lead to the marginalisation of the political agenda, upsurge in crime, vulnerability of democratic institutions and, consequently, the threat of a collapse of the state or its sliding into dictatorship", the former Russian president said.
"Unfortunately, Russia, too, was on the verge of anarchy and state collapse twice in the last century (in 1917 and 1991). Both times, the collapse of the state was accompanied by the slogans of universal freedom and democracy. Today, we see examples of failed states unable to build a stable political system and give their people confidence in the future (including those among the former Soviet states)", Medvedev added.
Coups in disguise
The propagation of social discord and support of opposition forces aimed at overthrowing current governments under the guise of democracy are still typical scenarios today, Medvedev added in the article.
"The typical scenario of unlawful interference in the internal affairs of states is still being repeated: the propagation of social division, support, and arming of the opposition to overthrow the present government with a formal reference to democratic values", Medvedev wrote in his article "75th Anniversary of the United Nations: Old Problems, New Challenges, and Global Solutions" published on the RT broadcaster's website.
He recalled the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a US-led international coalition that included several NATO countries.
"Under the pretext of combating international terrorism and searching for weapons of mass destruction, the legitimate president of the country, Saddam Hussein, was deposed and executed, the 'authoritarian state' was ruined and the 'truly democratic' [one] was established. Everyone knows how it all turned out", the politician added.
