United Nations

The UN grew out of efforts during the Second World War to establish a durable forum for international cooperation. Representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco in 1945 and signed the Charter of the United Nations on 26 June. The Charter entered into force on 24 October 1945, the date on which the Organization officially began. Its purposes include maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, encouraging cooperation on economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems, and promoting respect for human rights. The Charter also sets principles for members, including sovereign equality and peaceful settlement of disputes.

Membership has grown from 51 founding states to 193 Member States. The UN is an intergovernmental organization, not a world government: states meet and act through bodies established by the Charter. Its six principal organs are the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice and Secretariat. The General Assembly is the Organization’s main deliberative and representative body, with every member state represented. The Security Council has 15 members—five permanent and ten elected—and bears primary responsibility for international peace and security. The Economic and Social Council coordinates work on economic, social and environmental issues. The International Court of Justice settles legal disputes submitted to it by states and gives advisory opinions when requested by authorized UN bodies. The Secretariat carries out the Organization’s day-to-day work under the Secretary-General.

The General Assembly provides a forum for debate and adopts resolutions on matters within the Charter’s scope; its agenda resolutions are generally recommendations rather than legally binding rules for member states. The Security Council can make decisions that members agree under the Charter to accept and carry out, and it may impose sanctions or authorize force in certain circumstances. On substantive matters, Council decisions require at least nine affirmative votes and no negative vote from a permanent member; this is commonly called the veto. The UN also coordinates diplomatic activity, humanitarian assistance, development initiatives and peace operations, with different mandates and arrangements for each.

The UN offers nearly universal participation in a single diplomatic forum and helps states coordinate around shared problems. Its Charter gives different powers to different organs, so not every statement or resolution has the same legal effect. The Security Council’s permanent-member veto can prevent action even when most Council members support a proposal, while the General Assembly’s resolutions often carry political influence without binding member states. The Organization therefore depends on the willingness and resources of its members to implement decisions and cooperate in practice. The Trusteeship Council, created to supervise trust territories, suspended operations in 1994 after all those territories had attained self-government or independence.