International Organizations Key Terms nongovernmental organizations, intergovernmental organizations, supranational organizations Find Out • What is the history of the European Union’s development? • What is the basic structure of the United Nations?
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The idea of the European Union was conceived to prevent the killing and destruction of World War II from ever happening again. The idea was first proposed by French foreign minister Robert Schuman in a speech on May 9, 1950. This date, the “birthday” of what is now the EU, is celebrated annually as Europe Day.
A. The United Nations (UN) provides a forum for nations to settle disputes peacefully through cooperation rather than conflict.
I. The United Nations (pages 702–704)
B. The General Assembly is made up of delegations of five representatives from each member nation.
C. The UN Security Council is composed of 15 nations, 5 of which are permanent members. It has the authority to make peacekeeping decisions for the UN.
D. The Secretariat conducts the UN’s day-to-day business and is headed by the Secretary General, who carries out the instructions of the Security Council.
E. The International Court of Justice settles disputes involving international law.
F. The Economic and Social Council promotes social and economic progress around the world.
G. The UN also has special agencies that carry out humanitarian activities.
H. UN peacekeeping often involves inserting an international force of troops between combatants to calm volatile situations; sometimes lightly armed peacekeeping forces will oversee elections or provide humanitarian aid.
A. The European Union (EU) is a political and economic partnership among 15 European nations.
II. The European Union (pages 704–706)
B. The EU began in 1957 as a trading market among six Western European nations; as more countries joined, the Maastricht Treaty enabled the EU to gain power and begin acting as a political unit.
C. Major EU policy is decided by the Council of the European Union.
D. The European Parliament contains 732 members and is the legislative branch of the EU.
E. The European Court of Justice hears cases and can declare laws of member nations invalid if they conflict with EU treaty obligations.
F. The European Commission does the daily work in the EU; the President of the Commission directs the large EU bureaucracy and oversees the annual budget.
1. Main Idea Use a graphic organizer like the one below to summarize the two international organizations described in this section.
Checking for Understanding
UN—191 member nations; wants to preserve world peace, encourage nations to act fairly, and help nations to cooperate in solving problems. EU—25 member nations; formed to allow European nations to band together to cooperate politically and economically.
Political Processes Identify and find out about the duties, responsibilities, and programs of the specialized agencies of the United Nations. Create a poster that illustrates the work of these agencies. Display completed posters in the classroom.