United Nations (UN)

An international organization, based in New York and Geneva, set up by the United Nations Charter in 1945 to replace the League of Nations. The main aims of the UN are: (1) to maintain international peace and security and to bring about settlement of international disputes by peaceful means; (2) to develop friendly relations among nations; and (3) to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic or cultural nature and in promoting respect for human rights. The Charter sets out certain fundamental principles, which include the undertaking to refrain from using or threatening force against the territory or political independence of any state.

The Charter established six principal organs, of which the most important are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and the *International Court of Justice. The General Assembly is the debating forum of the UN, consisting of all the member states; it can pass resolutions, but these are not legally binding upon member states. The Security Council has five permanent members (China, France, the USSR, the UK, and the USA), and ten temporary members elected for two-year periods. Its resolutions are binding on member states, but each permanent member has the right to veto a resolution. It is empowered, under certain conditions, to make recommendations and take measures to maintain the peace, although the provisions for a UN military force envisaged in the Charter have not been implemented.

The United Nations has lost credibility as an international legal organization because it has often been divided upon issues on the basis of political (rather than legal) factors or has passed resolutions of a political nature. Nevertheless it remains important as the only world organization (almost all independent states are members of the UN) and as a forum for discussion and development of international law.

In certain policy areas the United Nations operates through subsidiary organs; for example, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC).