Russia’s barbaric and revolting attack on Ukraine can not only be stopped, but the steps that can be taken to end this bloody destruction of a sovereign nation will also create the means to keep it from ever happening again. Unfortunately, the United Nations, which was designed to prevent or stop this kind of aggression, cannot perform its intended role effectively since the offending state is one of the five permanent members on the UN Security Council with absolute veto power over any UN actions to counter the aggression.

So why not just amend the UN charter to eliminate Russia from the Security Council? Russia’s veto power would also be used to prevent this from happening. The reality is that the UN, with its current structure and charter, is unable to act in any substantive way to stop Putin’s war. What is needed now, to stop the genocide and war crimes being inflicted on innocent people of Ukraine, is a new organization with a new charter.

This new organization could be constructed in a way that would facilitate the coordinated and effective actions needed to end the kind of aggression we are witnessing on the part of Putin’s tyrannical regime in Russia. Such an organization could greatly accelerate the boycotts and sanctions now being put in place, that are needed to eliminate the income from the sale of fossil fuels that is essential to Russia’s war effort. Without this huge flow of money into Russia, it will run out of the resources essential to continuing its brutality within a few months.

A new organization to carry out these sanctions will be needed since some of the countries that will need to eliminate the use of Russia’s fossil fuels have economies that are very dependent on them. To mitigate this damage, the peaceful counties who oppose Russian aggression must develop an agreement to immediately share their hydrocarbon-based resources until the world-wide energy economy can be reformed in ways that will guarantee their long-term prosperity. If we want to stop this war, we must all agree to share in the hardship that will result from doing what is necessary to stop it.

What is needed, as quickly as possible, is to form a new world-wide organization, modeled after the UN, that does not give a small number of members absolute veto power over the actions that a majority of the members believe to be essential to world peace. Mirroring the original intent that resulted in the UN being formed, its goal will be to prevent any country from using destructive actions to destroy or subjugate the people of another sovereign state.

How could such a dramatic change be accomplished quickly? One way would be for the US Congress to take the lead in forming a new alliance that the world so desperately needs. The US could withdraw the funds we are currently providing to the UN and make this money available to start the new organization. This would, of course, eliminate the jobs and income of many of the selfless and highly skilled employees of the UN. But this effort would result in an effective and essential organization being formed with a new name, a new charter, and probably would be run by the same staff currently employed by the United Nations. This new alliance would not only be committed to world peace just like the UN, but it would have the ability to make sure it happens.

Without this this kind of cooperative action on the part of the vast majority of people on earth who cherish peace and love their homeland, it is very likely we will see more attacks by more powerful countries on the weaker, in wars that could last many years. How many innocent civilians do we need to watch being deprived of their homes or brutally slaughtered before we come together and act decisively?