Lecture 5 the_united_nations

Lecture 5The United Nations

The United Nations• Created in 1945 as a

response to World War II and the clear failures of the League of Nations

• Partly an improved version of the League of Nations to suit the circumstances and the international relations of 1945

Early ideas and negotiations• The details were decided at

conferences at Dumbarton Oaks (1944), Yalta (1945) and San Francisco (1945)

• Early ideas included Roosevelt’s concept of the “Four Policemen” – the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union and China – maintaining peace in their respective areas

A new form of alliance• The final format was a new

version of the League, with the leaders of the wartime alliance given central roles in the forum for collective security

• The rapid fallout of the wartime allies after 1945 meant some of the original ideas (such as a standing military force) were never implemented

The UN structure

The chief UN bodies

• The Security Council• The General Assembly• Specialist agencies, including the

International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (later the World Bank)

The General Assembly• Like the League of Nations Assembly, the General

Assembly contains representatives of all member countries

• The GA contained 51 members at its first session – it now has 193

• The GA holds annual permanent sessions in New York

Powers of the General Assembly

• The Assembly provides a vital voice for smaller countries, especially since decolonisation

• The Assembly debates issues and passes its own resolutions, but cannot oblige the Security Council to take action

The Security Council

• The Security Council is the supreme authority of the UN

• Like the Council of the League of Nations, the Security Council contains permanent members and rotating members, with the latter chosen by the General Assembly

The permanent members of the SC

• In 1945, the five permanent members were the most powerful countries of the wartime alliance: the USA, USSR, Britain, France, and China

• In 1971, the Chinese seat was given to the People’s Republic of China

• In 1991, the Soviet Union’s seat was given to Russia• No new members have been added to the five, despite

the massive expansion of UN membership

The rotating members of the SC

• The Security Council contains 10 rotating members (6 until 1965), chosen by the General Assembly for two years

• The rotating members are chosen on a regional basis, to allow the choice of states from each of the world’s regions

• Current rotating members include India, Pakistan, Germany and South Africa

Voting in the Security Council

• Unlike the Council of the League, matters in the Security Council are decided by a simple majority vote

• However, the five permanent members have the power of veto – any one of them can prevent the passing of a resolution, and can therefore prevent the UN from responding to a crisis

The United Nations Charter

• The UN Charter stated the organisation’s main aims and provided the legal framework for its activities

• The Charter came into force in 1945 and remains substantially unchanged since then

Article 1: the aims of the UN

• The Purposes of the United Nations are:

• To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;

• To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;

• To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and

• To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.

Article 2: sovereignty

• Paragraph 1: The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members

• Paragraph 7: Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter VII.

Chapter VII: responses to threats to peace

• Chapter VII covers all threats to peace and security, especially where one state threatens the sovereignty of another

• As with the League of Nations, responses under Chapter VII include moral, economic and military measures

Chapter VII

“Action with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression”

• Article 41 – non-military responses to threats to peace

• Article 42 – military responses• Article 51 – the right to self-defence and

collective self-defence

Article 41: non-military responses

• The Security Council may decide what measures not involving the use of armed force are to be employed to give effect to its decisions, and it may call upon the Members of the United Nations to apply such measures. These may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations.

Article 42: military responses

• Should the Security Council consider that measures provided for in Article 41 would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate, it may take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such action may include demonstrations, blockade, and other operations by air, sea, or land forces of Members of the United Nations.

Article 51: the right to self-defence

• Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.

The fundamental UN problem

At its best and at its worst, the UN is a mirror of our world: it reflects our differences and our convergences, our hopes and aspirations, and our limitations and failures.

Shashi Tharoor, UN Under-Secretary, 2005