About the Formation of the United Nations

The formation of the United Nations was a lengthy and difficult political process, particularly for the United States. It began as The League of Nations in 1919 after World War One and was a key component in the Treaty of Versailles. Although the intention of peacekeeping was present, the involved countries ultimately decided to eliminate the organization as it was ineffectual once World War Two broke out. It was clear at this point that the League's actions could do little to curb the war, and that a new organization would have to be formed.

History

After the failure of the League of Nations, the great political leaders of the time, including Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, convened to develop The Declaration of the United Nations on January 1, 1942. The Declaration was an accord between all nations fighting against the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union), promising not to form any other entangling alliances and that once the war was won, a formal peacekeeping organization, to be called the United Nations, would be officially established to actively take measures that would prevent hostile relations between its member countries.

Once the UN was formed, it was separated into subdivisions that would include The General Assembly, The Security Council, The Economic and Social Council, The Secretariat, and The International Court of Justice. Each sect of the UN serves a specific purpose, but all work in conjunction to promote the goals of the UN charter.

The General Assembly is the sole body of the United Nations in which all members are permitted to deliberate and make recommendations regarding everything from budgetary concerns to political upheaval in a particular region.

The Security Council is responsible for quelling actions that are in direct opposition to the peaceful intentions set forth in the charter. This has left room for many a grey area as The Security Council is allowed to enforce military action even though such powers are in conflict with other governing documents, such as the U.S. Constitution, in which it states that only the Senate can approve of a president's decision to go to war.

The Economic and Social Council's role is to gather data and information that will assist in the economic development of a particular country. Its primary duty is to facilitate growth in countries with fledgling economies, with a heavy focus on Africa.

The role of the Secretariat serves to report on the goings-on of its member countries and to report on these incidents at meetings of The General Assembly and other bodies of the UN.

The International Court of Justice comes into play if a member country submits a formal legal complaint or query to the ICJ. More often than not, the ICJ has been one of the lesser aspects of the UN's importance and authority as most nations are wont to resolve domestic conflicts independently.

Function

The United Nations has long been regarded with varying points of view in terms of what is expected of the institution and how far it should go to intervene in the actions of the countries it represents. In the official UN Charter, it states its primary goals as: "To save succeeding generations from the scourges of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom."

Whether or not certain of these objectives have been accomplished remains discretionary. All members and non-members of the UN are technically required to settle potentially threatening disputes in a peaceful manner, however there have been several instances in which this tenet has been blatantly violated. The second war between the United States and Iraq is one of the most glaring examples of UN violations. One of the charter's governing principles states that even non-members must act in accordance with the charter if the actions of the non-member country will adversely affect the global infrastructure. So when a member country contradicts the articles of the charter, the betrayal is slightly more egregious. With regard to U.S.-Iraq relations, the U.S. is in breach of the charter in that the use of violent force is permissible only after the UN Security Council has approved military action and/or if the country in question is acting in self-defense.

Ultimately, the function of the UN, while concisely and simplistically stated, is not always easy to enforce.

Effects

The United Nations has, in some fashion or another, affected foreign policy since the end of World War One. Born out of the Treaty of Versailles, the UN took an embryonic form in the League of Nations. Then president Woodrow Wilson rallied long and hard for the United States to sign the treaty, hoping that his country would be able to count itself among the other war torn nations that saw the importance of averting another world crisis of such magnitude. At the time, however, Wilson's stronghold over the public and the legislature was rapidly deteriorating. Senate Majority Leader Henry Cabot Lodge was one of the chief detractors of United States participation in the League of Nations.

Although the League of Nations is the most closely related predecessor to what is now the modern UN, the earliest traces of the United Nations go as far back as 1899 at The International Peace Confence at the Hague, Netherlands. The primary accomplishment of the meeting was reaching an agreement on the use of acceptable and humane weapons for warfare.

At the time of ratification, the League of Nations contained a total of 63 countries, including Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. The notable absence of the U.S. as a member of the League has often been attributed as part of its downfall. Without involvement from such a key player in global affairs, the League of Nations seemed to lack the clout it had set out to possess.

Once it became apparent that a new organization and mode of execution would have to be created, a skeletal version of the UN charter began to take shape through the Declaration of Saint James' Palace. Among the signatories of this first declaration were Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands, Australia, and the United Kingdom. This set the wheels in motion for the United Nations Declaration and the subsequent conference in San Francisco that would inveterate the United Nations as the entity it has become.

From the time of the UN's acknowledged existence on October 24, 1945, membership has increased steadily each year, with 1997 and 2003 being the only years thus far that a new country has not joined.

Benefits

From the very beginning, the United Nations has pioneered the global quest for peace and harmonious coexistence between nations of the world. As the only internationally recongnized organization with political authority independent of the nations it stands for, the UN has the ability to wield its power for the betterment of the global community. In the past, its intervention has led to the evasion of possibly catastrophic events, one such example being the Korean War in 1950. The Security Council was able to assist South Korea in averting a brutal invasion from North Korea. It was the UN that ultimately signed the Korean Armistice Agreement formally ending the Korean War.

Even though the UN has been indispensable as a mediator of nations as well as a peacekeeping advocate, there have been notable lapses in its involvement. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 was one of the most outrageous instances of the UN's failure to act. The slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Tutsi Rwandans did not incite the UN to come to Rwanda's aid until it was too late.

It is for these reasons that the UN is frequently regarded with both cynicism and reverence. The destructive historical events that have occurred since its existence have led many to believe that it serves a minimal, if not inconsequential purpose, in spite of the advantages it has instilled overall.

Significance

One of the most significant effects of the institution of the United Nations has been the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The drafting of this document heralded a new outlook on governmental control. It is a document that puts all people outside the bounds of any government and outlines each individual's rights as a human being, no matter what country he or she is born in. The essence of the declaration is encapsulated in Article 1, in which it states, "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

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