United Nations
Created | Updated Feb 9, 2008
We the Peoples
of the United Nations...
United for a Better World
The United Nations is an organisation comprised of most of the world's nations that you have heard of and quite a few that you probaby have not. The UN often takes a leading role in conflicts and problems facing the world, as a mediator, peace broker or as a main aid contributor.
The General Assembly of the United Nations is housed in New York City, USA. This is where Ambassadors to the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council meet to do business. It is where heads of state take the world stage to make grand statements of national policy. Geneva, Switzerland1 also hosts the UN at a complex of offices featuring the Palais des Nations, the former home of the League of Nations. Other centres of UN activity are Vienna, Austria, and Nairobi, Kenya.
The Creation of the UN
In 1941, the Second World War was perhaps at its darkest and most hopeless stage. Most of Europe had either been conquered by or was under the influence of Nazi Germany; large parts of Africa seemed to be firmly in the grip of Germany, Italy or the German puppet government of Vichy France2; and Imperial Japan seemed capable of sweeping away any oposition in the Far East.
On 12 June, 1941, representives of Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, together with exiled leaders from the occupied countries of Europe, issued a brave declaration:
The only true basis of enduring peace is the willing cooperation of free peoples in a world in which, relieved of the menace of aggression, all may enjoy economic and social security;
It is our intention to work together, and with other free peoples, both in war and peace, to this end.
This was a statement of defiance, but it was also an affirmation of the belief in a system of governance that would lead to the founding of the United Nations.
Later that year, Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Britain, and Franklin D Roosevelt, President of the USA, met aboard warships in the Atlantic Ocean and on 14 August, 1941, issued the Atlantic Charter. This document defined the nature of the alliance between the United States and Britain and described a postwar world of peaceful co-existence.
The main ideas set down in the Atlantic Charter were:
Neither Britain nor the USA wanted to gain anything from the war.3
The Allies wouldn't take over any land, unless the people there wanted them to.
They would respect the right of nations to chose their own form of government.
They would make an honest effort to ensure that all states had access to trade, raw materials, and so on...
The allies would promote improved labour standards, economic development and social security.
After destroying 'Nazi Tyranny', the Allies would build a world of peace and security.
The seas would be free.
Potential adversaries would henceforth work towards disarmament and renounce warfare in favour of peaceful methods of conflict resolution.
This declaration was either a singularly impressive instance when two statesmen rose Moses-like above the throes and turmoil of their time, or merely an exercise in propaganda aimed more closely at securing material assistance than establishing moral superiority for a battle ahead that seemed all but lost. Nevertheless, the Atlantic Charter survived the vicissitudes of the the Second World War and became the foundation upon which the United Nations was built.
When war ended in 1945 representatives of 50 countries, including the USSR, China, USA and Britain, drew up the United Nations Charter in San Francisco, USA. They all agreed that the League of Nations, which had been so ineffectual in the years between the two great wars, had to be replaced by a more dynamic peacekeeping organisation. The United Nations was officially created on 24 October, 1945. This date is now remembered worldwide as United Nations Day.
UN Structure
The UN is not a single, independent organisation, but is comprised of separate countries. This means that the UN’s decisions depend on the Member States to make the UN’s work possible. As so many different nations are involved, decision-making is often lengthy and difficult.
