Even before the end of the Second World War, the Allies, dedicated to defeating the Axis in the United Nations Declaration in 1942, began working on a post-war organization to promote world peace and development.  The new United Nations Organization would replace the defunct League of Nations, which officially ended operations in 1946.  The UN would consist of a General Assembly, composed of all of the member states, a Security Council with each of the five Great Powers permanent members and holding veto power, and a number of specialized agencies.  To avoid post-war economic problems, the Allies established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) in 1944.  Delegates met in San Francisco in 1945 and established the United Nations.  Cordell Hull, the former U.S. Secretary of State played a leading role in these proceedings.

Although the creation of the United Nations was met with great acclaim and high expectations, ideological divisions between the Western Powers and the Soviet Union resulted in the Cold War during the late 1940’s.  The civil war in China resulted in the establishment of a Communist regime by 1949, although representatives of the People’s Republic of China would not take their seats in the General Assembly and the Security Council until 1971.  The North Korean invasion of South Korea in 1950 led the UN to send forces to stem the invasion; Lester Pearson was one of the UN negotiators who formulated the cease-fire in 1953.  While the United Nations avoided military confrontations involving the United States or Soviet Union during the Cold War, the organization did develop the concept of deploying neutral peace-keeping forces to prevent the outbreak of hostilities or serve as a buffer between disengaging armies.  Ralph Bunche, Dag Hammarskjöld, and the UN Peacekeeping Forces all played critical roles in promoting peace around the world.

The threat of nuclear war and the critical need for disarmament became an important goal for the United Nations.  The atomic bomb of 1945, followed by the more powerful hydrogen bomb of 1952, coupled with long-range strategic bombers, submarine launched ballistic missiles, and intercontinental ballistic missiles provided the U.S. and the USSR with the ability to destroy the planet.  Philip Noel-Baker became a leader in the arms control movement and worked not only to limit the number of weapons systems, but made a noble effort to eliminate the threat of nuclear devastation.  Coupled with the problems of conflict, refugees remained a tremendous challenge after World War II.  Much of Europe and the Far East was devastated in the fighting and subsequent post-war decolonization in South Asia and the Middle East saw the mass migration of millions of people.  The UN established the United Nations High Commissioners Office for Refugees to first address the problems of displaced persons from the Second World War and later to provide aid to refugees fleeing civil wars or regional conflicts around the globe.

One of the hallmarks of the United Nations was the sudden increase in General Assembly membership between the late 1940’s and 1975 as former colonies in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia emerged as independent nations.  These countries transformed the debate within the UN from an East-West perspective to refocus concerns on North-South issues and the problems of development.  Bunche played a leading role in promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy among the developing states.  The decolonization process was not always a harmonious process as reflected by Sean MacBride’s contribution to the independence of Namibia in 1979.

The United Nations has also addressed a wide range of social issues since its inception.  Fighting world hunger came under the purview of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), established under Lord John Boyd Orr.  The education and health care of children became the responsibility of UNICEF.  Leon Jouhaux and the International Labour Organization (ILO), established under the Versailles Treaty in 1919, have worked to improve living and safety standards for workers.  In addition, the UN has striven to promote human rights around the world through the efforts of Rene Cassin and Kofi Annan.

The end of the Cold War in 1991 and the reduction in tensions between the superpowers suggests a promising future for the United Nations and international peace.  The international community acted in concert to restore Kuwaiti independence in 1991 after the invasion by Iraq in the First Persian Gulf War.  The UN faces a challenging world full of problems, but it undertakes this challenge with great hope in the future.

Related Links

http://nobelprize.org/
http://nobelprize.org/peace/
http://www.nobel.no/