Pakistan, April 27 -- Whenever tensions flare between two nations, the world instinctively asks the same question: "Where is the United Nations?"

The UN was built to be the world's safeguard-created to preserve peace, head off conflict, and provide a neutral ground for diplomacy. On paper, a high-stakes confrontation involving Iran, the United States, and the threat of regional chaos should place the UN at the absolute centre of the map.

Yet, in practice, Pakistan has emerged as the more functional diplomatic bridge.

It's a blunt truth of global politics: International bodies can give you the paperwork and the blessing, but it's individual countries that actually get the job done. The UN can pass resolutions, appoint special envoys, an...