By Garfield L. Angus
November 3, 2026
Can an organisation entrusted with safeguarding the sovereignty, dignity and equality of nations genuinely operate as an impartial institution when its headquarters is located in the territory of a country capable of exerting considerable influence over the diplomatic presence of its members? That question deserves urgent international attention.
The United Nations was established in 1945 on the ashes of the Second World War, with a solemn commitment to prevent future conflicts, uphold international law and provide a forum where nations, regardless of size or military strength, could resolve their differences through dialogue.
Yet, more than eight decades later, the world body finds itself operating from the territory of a superpower whose foreign policy decisions, diplomatic conduct and exercise of economic and political influence have repeatedly raised questions about its commitment to the very principles the United Nations was established to defend.
The recent confrontation involving the United States and Cuba at the United Nations has brought this contradiction into particularly sharp focus. It is time to ask whether the organisation should continue to have its headquarters in New York or whether the moment has arrived for the international community to pursue a genuinely independent home for the institution.
When the Host Country Becomes Part of the Problem
The October 27, 2026, confrontation involving US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla was more than an exchange of diplomatic disagreements. It exposed an uncomfortable imbalance between the authority of the host country and the principle of sovereign equality among member states.
While the Cuban Foreign Minister and his delegation could have exercised greater restraint in responding to the American Ambassador’s criticisms, the conduct of the US representative was equally troubling.
His pointed reminders that he represented the United States and that his Cuban counterpart was standing on American soil were contemptuous of the dignity of the United Nations. The language and posture smacked of imperial arrogance, suggesting that the authority of the host country could be invoked to diminish the standing of another nation’s representative within an institution that belongs to the entire international community.
The situation became even more disturbing when reports emerged that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had signed paperwork ordering the expulsion of a First Secretary of Cuba’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. The American Ambassador announced that the Cuban official would be returning to Havana within 24 hours.
Whatever the competing accounts surrounding the alleged physical encounter involving the diplomats, the incident raises an important question: should the host Government possess such overwhelming practical leverage over the diplomatic participation of representatives of countries with which it has political disagreements?
The irony is extraordinary. An organisation created to prevent powerful nations from dominating weaker ones is headquartered in a country whose Government can exercise considerable influence over the entry, movement and continued presence of foreign diplomatic representatives. The United Nations cannot credibly champion the equality of nations while allowing its headquarters arrangements to create the perception that one member state enjoys a privileged position over the others.
Historical Circumstances Behind New York
The choice of New York as the headquarters was understandable in the circumstances following the Second World War. Much of Europe had been devastated, and the continent lacked the economic and physical infrastructure to accommodate the new international organisation. American philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated US$8.5 million towards the purchase of the Manhattan site along the East River, providing the United Nations with a permanent physical home.
It was a generous contribution, but the passage of time has exposed the limitations of an arrangement that places the headquarters of the world’s most important multilateral organisation within the territory of a major geopolitical power. The Headquarters Agreement provides the United Nations with important privileges and protections. Nevertheless, no agreement can entirely eliminate the practical influence of the host country over immigration, security and other domestic arrangements.
The question is not whether the United States should be recognised for its historical contribution. It should. Rather, the question is whether historical generosity should determine the permanent location of an institution whose membership and mandate extend to virtually every corner of the world.
The Contradictions of American Foreign Policy
The suitability of the United States as host must also be considered against its broader international conduct. Washington’s longstanding support for Israel, including its repeated use of the Security Council veto to block resolutions critical of Israeli actions, has attracted widespread criticism from countries and international observers.
The resulting tension between American foreign policy and the positions of substantial majorities in the General Assembly raises legitimate questions about the perception of impartiality within the international system. There are also concerns about the use of financial leverage. The periodic withholding or delayed payment of assessed contributions by major member states, including the United States, has contributed to the organisation’s financial challenges and exposed its vulnerability to political pressure.
No country should be able to use its economic strength or geographical position to undermine the independence of an institution established to serve the collective interests of humanity. This is not an argument that the United States should be excluded from international leadership. It is an argument that leadership must be exercised within a framework of equality, accountability and respect for international institutions.
The Security Council Must Also Change
Relocating the headquarters would not, by itself, resolve the structural weaknesses of the United Nations. The Security Council remains dominated by five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Their veto powers allow individual countries to block substantive resolutions, even when those measures enjoy overwhelming international support.
Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and other developing regions continue to demand a more equitable role in global decision-making. It is difficult to reconcile the principle of sovereign equality with an international system in which a small group of powerful nations retains privileges denied to the overwhelming majority of member states. The headquarters question and Security Council reform should therefore be addressed as complementary aspects of a broader programme to democratise the United Nations.
Neutral Territory or an Independent UN Island
The international community should seriously examine two alternatives. The first is relocation to a traditionally neutral country with a strong commitment to peaceful diplomacy, such as Switzerland or Costa Rica. Such a move would require comprehensive legal guarantees protecting the organisation’s independence and ensuring unrestricted diplomatic access for all accredited member states.
The second, and potentially more transformative, proposal is the establishment of an independent United Nations territory. The international community could negotiate the purchase or designation of an island to serve as the permanent headquarters of the organisation. Under an internationally agreed treaty, the territory would be administered exclusively for United Nations purposes, with its legal status, governance, security and diplomatic arrangements protected from unilateral interference by any individual member state.
Such a location could accommodate the General Assembly, Security Council, international courts, diplomatic missions and other essential institutions. It would be a bold declaration that the United Nations is not the property of its most powerful members but a collective institution belonging to the international community.
Of course, establishing such a territory would require considerable financial investment, international agreement and careful legal planning. However, the scale of the undertaking should not deter a world that routinely mobilises enormous resources for military expenditure and geopolitical competition. If humanity can finance the instruments of war, surely it can invest in an independent home for the institution charged with preserving peace.
The World Must Belong to All Nations
The United Nations cannot continue to rely solely on the goodwill of powerful countries to guarantee its independence. Its authority must be protected by its institutional structure, its legal arrangements and the physical environment in which it operates. The confrontation involving the American and Cuban representatives should therefore be viewed as a warning, not merely another diplomatic disagreement. It illustrates the vulnerability of an international institution when its headquarters is situated within the jurisdiction of a country that is itself a major participant in global political disputes.
The United States has made an important historical contribution to the establishment and development of the United Nations. That contribution deserves recognition. However, history must not become a permanent justification for an arrangement that warrants reconsideration. The time has come for the Caribbean, Africa, Latin America, Asia and other regions to help lead a serious international conversation about a new headquarters and a more democratic United Nations.
Perhaps the most appropriate tribute to the founders of the organisation would be to ensure that no country, however powerful, can make another nation feel like an unwelcome guest in the house of humanity. The United Nations must never be a tenant of power, a prisoner of geography or an instrument of geopolitical privilege.
It must stand on ground that belongs to the world, where the voice of Jamaica carries the same dignity as the voice of the United States, where Cuba can speak without intimidation, and where no nation is made to feel that its sovereignty is conditional upon the permission of another. If the United Nations is truly the house of all nations, then it is time to give it a home that belongs to all humanity.
(Garfield L. Angus is a Senior Journalist based in Jamaica.
He is also a Governor General’s Achievement Awards (GGAA) Recipient)
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