Forerunner: The League of Nations

Forerunner: The League of Nations

• Established in 1920 under the Treaty of Versailles

“to promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and security “

• Direct response to the atrocities of the First World War

• Initiative of President Wilson of the USA (Fourteen Points plan for peace)

The League of NationsUnited Nations

Encourage co-operation Stop Aggression

DisarmamentImprove

Social Conditions

AIMS

Inside the United NationsInside the United Nations Membership to the U.N. is open to all peace loving

nations. To be admitted to the U.N. a nation must:

accept the charter (rules) be accepted by the Security Council be approved by the General Assembly

International Cooperation

The United Nations is formed from representatives of 185 nations from around the world.

The main bodies of the U.N. are arranged in order of importance, on a following slide.

193

The Original United Nations Yalta – San Francisco Conference --- April and June 1945

Five permanent members– victors in WWII

“BIG FIVE”

Structure of United Nations- “ SIX ORGANS”

Security Council

General Assembly

Secretariat

Secretary General

Economic and Social Council

Trusteeship Council

International Court of

Justice

Security Council

The Security Council

The Security Council is made up of 15 members, 5 of which are permanent.

The permanent members are: China, England, France, Russia, and the United States.

The 10 rotating members are elected by the General Assembly for 2 year terms.

Ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly (with end of term date):

Argentina (2014)Azerbaijan (2013)Australia (2014)Guatemala (2013)Luxembourg (2014)Morocco (2013)Pakistan (2013)Republic of Korea (2014)Rwanda (2014)Togo (2013)

Power and Responsibility of Security Council• 5 permanent members given veto power, which means that decisions taken by the Security Council can be blocked by any of the five permanent members. • Keeps international peace

• Monitors nuclear weapons• Decides what to do when a country threatens / goes to war• To make a decision : 9 members must agree--- of the 9 all 5 permanent members must pass the resolution.

General Assembly

•

The General Assembly The General Assembly is

composed of all the members of the U.N. Each member State has one vote.

They discuss things like: international peace,

disagreements, and war human misery regulating nuclear

bombs and other important

international problems

The General Assembly If the problem is too big to

handle, the General Assembly can: call for studies to be made

on how to solve the problem

recommend how the problem will be solved

or, call in the Security Council

Issues such as budget, security and military require 2/3 of the General Assembly must vote for it.Decisions on other questions are reached by a simple majority

How does the G.A. work?September: opening new (annual) session: generaldebate.

September- December: work divided over six maincommittees and several special commissions

December: end annual session. Votes cast over proposed resolutions. December-September: work taken care of by the sixcommittees; special commissions. When necessaryemergency meetings of the G.A. take place.

The Secretary General

Ban Ki-MoonSouth Korea2008 appointment

The Secretary General

He/She is appointed by the General Assembly with the approval of the Security Council. (5 year term)

He/She brings international problems to the attention of the Security Council.

He/She helps different U.N. organizations when they need something done.

• He/She mediates debates

The Economic and Social The Economic and Social CouncilCouncil

They have 54 members elected by the General Assembly.

They make reports to the General Assembly on international: economic problems social problems education health human rights

Trusteeship Council

A trusteeship is an area of land placed under the care of another country by the U.N.

Membership is made up of an equal number of those countries that hold trusteeships and those who don’t.

They are responsible for making sure that the people in a trusteeship have: political freedom economic security peace the right to an education

Its job was to oversee territories such as those taken fromconquered nation during WWII

International Court of JusticeInternational Court of Justice

All U.N. nations are members of the court.

It makes sure that the rules of the U.N. are followed by all nations.

The court makes rulings on: international lawsuits crimes against humanity

(including war crimes) settle boundary

disagreements between nations

• 15 judges elected by the General Assembly (with Security Council approval).

Funding FUNDINGFunding for the U.N. comes from the member nations. The General Assembly is in charge of ratifying a budget and deciding how much money each nation will pay into the system. Money gets divided into three areas:

•The normal U.N. operating budget •The peacekeeping budget •Voluntary contributions, mostly for humanitarian efforts

The UN Regular BudgetThe current payment structure for UN Regular Budget dues sets maximum (22%) and minimum (.001%) rates for all nations based on their ability to pay.

The U.S. pays the maximum rate and has negotiated several reductions in this rate over time, most notably from 25% to 22%.

The assessment rate is primarily determined by gross national product (GNP), and since the U.S. has one of the highest in the world, its dues assessments are higher than those of other Member States.

The Peacekeeping BudgetThe UN’s peacekeeping budget currently finances 15 peacekeeping missions with more than 120,000 military, police, and civilian personnel deployed in conflict zones throughout the world.

The UN funds its peacekeeping budget with assessments on member states similar to those made for the regular budget, but with greater discounts for poorer nations. The resulting funding deficit is compensated for by the 5 permanent members (P5) of the Security Council—the U.S., United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China.

Under this formula, the U.S. is assessed 27% of the UN’s peacekeeping budget

• 2008- The US was delinquent $1.6 billion in UN dues. These debt accumulated during several years of non-payment for peacekeeping and regular budgets for which America had voted.

•In the normal operating budget, the U.S. covered 22% of the budget. Other big contributors: Japan (16.6%), Germany (8.6%), France (6%), the U.K. (6.1%), Italy (4.8%), Canada (2.8%), Spain (2.5%), Mexico (1.8%),Australia (1.6%), Brazil (1.5%), others (22.6%)

Account FY 2011 Actual FY 2012 Estimate

FY 2013 Request

Contributions to International Peacekeeping Activities

$1.884 billion $1.92 billion* $2.098 billion

Contributions to International Organizations

$1.578 billion $1.551 billion $1.57 billion

CIO - UN Regular Budget $516 million $569 million $568 million

funding levels including the President’s request for FY 2013.