My Science School

It happened in 1946. The Soviet Union used the power to veto for the first time in the history of the United Nations. This was during the Cold War.

In a nutshell, the Cold War was the rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States after the Second World War. The Soviet Union was a communist regime while the US had capitalist interests.

There were dozens of conflicts, some big, some small and the UN was not completely successful in preventing wars. Both the Soviet Union and the US used veto to block the other’s suggestions about various policies. By 1953, the Soviet Union had used veto more than 50 times!

 

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You might have heard of things like ‘the power to veto’. The Latin word veto means ‘I forbid’. Now you might get means.

In simple words, veto is the power to say ‘no’ to any decision. Te five permanent members of the UN Security Council have the power to veto. No major decisions would be made if any of the five members vetoes a proposal. There is an interesting story behind the introduction of veto in the UN.

When it was founded, the founding members decided that the Security Council would be the most powerful organ of the UN. However, a lot of fear lurked beneath this decision.

The Soviet Union especially believed that the US would get the Council to pass resolutions against the interests of their Republic. This might also lead to a nation gaining absolute power over everything. To avoid this from happening, it was decided that any resolution could be passed only if all the permanent members of the Council agreed to it. Thus, veto was introduced.

 

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The UN is a huge organisation that needs effective leaders. The head of the UN is responsible for running the UN and this is vested upon the Secretary-General. Being the head of the UN is not an easy task.

The UN Secretary – General is a peace-maker. He or she needs to be a good administrator, a diplomat, and an able spokesperson all at the same time. The Secretary-General should be efficient enough to make the voice of the unprivileged heard.

The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly and serves a maximum of two four-year terms. The UN had made it a point that the Secretary-Generals should not come from the countries linked with major powers. The first Secretary-General of the UN was from Norway and his name was Trygve Halvdan Lie.

 

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One would not be wrong to say that the United Nations looks after the world. Such an organisation needs a lot of money for smooth and efficient functioning. You might have membership in some club. As club members, you would have to contribute money for the functioning of the club. Similarly, the UN draws funds through membership.

The UN receives annual funding from the governments of its 193 members. Each member contributes according to its ability to pay. Factors like national income, level of debt and population are taken into consideration to decide a country’s annual contribution.

So naturally, wealthier nations contribute more than the poor nations. For instance, in 2006, Liberia had to contribute 0.001 per cent of the regular budget while France had to pay 6 per cent.

 

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We have been talking a lot about how the UN strives for establishing world peace. But is peace the only concern of the United Nations? The UN Charter clearly sets out the objectives of the organisation. They are as follows:

• To maintain international peace and security


• To develop friendly relations among nations


• To cooperate internationally in solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms


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

The UN has many specialized agencies like the UNESCO and programmes like the World Food Programme that help it to achieve these objectives.

 

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The United Nations has six different languages. They are English, Chinese, French, Arabic, Russian and Spanish. These six languages are used in the meetings and documents of the United Nations. But why does the UN have so many official languages?

UN is an international organisation with its members speaking different languages. This should not be a barrier for effective communication. So, it is natural for it to have more than one official language.

Using different languages enables effective communication between the culturally and linguistically diverse members. Apart from the official languages, all the speeches are translated other languages as well.

 

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New York holds the United Nations. It is situated in Turtle Bay. Sometimes, the name Turtle Bay is used for the headquarters of the UN. Turtle Bay has served as the headquarters of the UN since 1952. The UN headquarters was designed by a team of architects led by Wallace Harrison.

Though situated in the US, Turtle Bay does not come under US administration. It is completely under the administration of the UN. But, it acknowledges many of the US federal laws.

The headquarters is the home of the General Assembly and the Security Council. In addition to Turtle Bay, the UN has three regional headquarters in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi. These offices do not hold the seats of any major organs, but they represent the interests of the UN and aid in diplomatic activities.

 

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In 1945, the UN had only 51 members including the five permanent member states. Over the years, there has been an increase in the number of members by four times. The UN now has 193 members. All the 193 members have a seat and equal representation in the General Assembly.

There are two reasons for the increase in the membership of the UN. Countries like the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia split up to form more independent states. The Soviet Union split to form fifteen independent countries. In addition to this, the end of the European colonial empires led to the formation of new countries.

The number of members increased as more countries were created. For instance, in 1960, when the European empires began to lose their power in Africa, many independent countries were formed like Cameroon, Congo, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Benn and Gabon. All these countries joined the UN.

 

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We know about membership in clubs and supermarkets. Similarly, the United Nations too offers membership to all the peace loving countries. But, the process is not as simple as getting a club membership.

By taking membership, the members agree to abide by the principles of the UN. There is a body of the UN known as the General Assembly. The General Assembly is responsible for taking new members after discussing with the Security Council.

To get membership, a country or a government has to submit an application to the Secretary General. This application will be considered by the Security Council. This application should be approved by nine to fifteen members. Moreover, the application will be rejected if any of the permanent members vote against it.

If the Security Council approves the application, it will be presented in the General Assembly for consideration. The application should gain a majority of two-thirds of the vote. If the application gets through all these hurdles, the country or the government will be admitted as a new number state.

 

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When it all began, the UN had only 26 members. The number almost doubled in 1945, all because of the San Francisco Conference.

On 25 April, 1945, a two-day convention took place in San Francisco. 50 delegates from the Allied nations took part in the conference. The delegates represented almost 80 per cent of the world’s population, and they reviewed and rewrote the previous agreement.

After four sessions, a document was developed and it is no known as the UN Charter. The UN Charter set the principles and the structure of the United Nations Organisation. The UN came into being four months after the Charter was signed.

 

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The Second World War began in 1939 and it turned out to be more fatal than the First World War. A state of insecurity and destruction lingered everywhere during the war years. The League of Nations had failed and there was an urgent need to re-establish peace and order.

It happened in 1941. US President Franklin D Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill came up with a document known as the Atlantic Charter. The Charter called for the formation of a new organisation to maintain peace. Later, representatives of 26 countries met and accepted the Charter and signed a document known as the Declaration of the United Nations. This was the beginning of the UN.

 

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Apart from promoting peace, the UN does have other goals. The UN works across the world to improve social and economic well-being. In simple words, the UN can be seen as the government of the world, that works around the clock to make our world a better place.

The UN is a meeting point that brings together all the independent nations and gives space for them to work closely.

The UN can also be viewed as a club where the countries can get a membership and enjoy the benefits it provides. The benefits include humanitarian aid, international law, and support at the times of crisis.

 

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The failure of the League of Nations led to the Second World War. With the Second World War came the necessity to establish world peace again.

Along with maintaining world peace, it was important to develop healthy relationships between the countries, promote co-operation in international affairs, and promote and respect human rights. Drawing from the failure of the League of Nations, a stronger foundation was laid this time. A new intergovernmental organisation came into existence to fill the gap left by the League of Nations- the United Nations.

The United Nations successfully brought together the countries of the world that are small and big, rich and poor, and have different social, cultural and political backgrounds. In short, the UN is an organisation of the countries that have agreed to co-operate with one another and settle all the disputes peacefully.

 

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The Second World War broke out during the active years of the League of Nations. The war itself was the proof of the failure of the League’s primary objective- to prevent future wars.

Most of the members of the League did not involve in the war and remained neutral. But some countries chose to go to war.

Germany formed the Axis Powers together with Italy and Japan. The League was not able to efficiently prevent the aggression of the Axis Powers during the war. Soon, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and some other countries withdrew from the League.

With these major members leaving and other important countries like the US and the Soviet Union staying out of it, the League began to lose its credibility and its offices were dismantled. It stopped functioning altogether in 1946. The United Nations took shape after that.

 

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The First World War killed around 13 million people and most of Europe was left in shatters. UP President Woodrow Wilson came up with a scheme to stop such events from being repeated.

Thirty countries agreed on a proposal to form a commission that would work to bring international peace. This was the first time the world leaders came up with such an effort and the result was the League of Nations.

The League of Nations was an international organisation that was formed after the First World War. It was founded in 1920 to solve the disputes between countries and stop the possibility of open warfare.

It is the world’s first inter-governmental organisation that worked to maintain global peace. It also worked to stop human and drug trafficking, the arms trade, and to improve global health. Though the League had a significant impact in solving international disputes, it stopped functioning in April, 1946.

 

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