United Nations

UNITED NATIONS. The United Nations (UN) is an association of independent national states. It was formed by the victorious nations of World War II to keep the peace their efforts had won. Its supreme goal is to end war.

It was expected that the great powers would work together to keep the peace. Instead, disagreements between the Soviet Union and the West created a state of international tension called the Cold War. The Soviet Union's goal was to spread its Communist system throughout the world. The Western nations, led by the United States, joined together to resist Communist expansion. Both sides built up their armaments, including atomic weapons. Nevertheless, the United Nations has made progress toward world cooperation and has adapted to changing circumstances that were not dreamed of by its founders.

Any states--even nonmembers--may bring disputes to the court for judgment. Both parties must first agree to allow the court to try the case. Should one of them fail to accept the judgment of the court, the other may appeal to the Security Council for enforcement. The court serves also as the legal adviser to the General Assembly, Security Council, and other United Nations organs.

The Economic and Social Council is devoted to the constructive tasks of peace--achieving higher standards of living, improving health and education, and promoting respect for human rights and freedoms throughout the world. It works under the authority of the General Assembly and reports to it. The Assembly elects 9 of the council's 27 members each year. They serve three-year terms.

The Economic and Social Council is assisted by its own commissions and by independent specialized agencies. (See list at the end of this article on the following page.)

The Secretariat carries on the day-to-day business of the United Nations and assists all the other organs. At its head is the secretary-general, the chief administrative officer of the United Nations. He is appointed by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Security Council. His staff numbers thousands of workers, from many countries.

The Trusteeship Council seeks to protect the interests of people who live in trust territories and to lead them toward self-government. It receives reports from the administering authorities, examines petitions, and sends out visiting missions. Its members are elected by the General Assembly.

A non-self-governing territory becomes a trust territory through an individual trusteeship agreement with the United Nations. The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (administered by the United States) is defined as a "strategic area" and is under the authority of the Security Council. All other trust territories are under the General Assembly.

The United Nations Headquarters

The General Assembly decided in February 1946 to locate the permanent headquarters of the United Nations in the United States instead of in Geneva, Switzerland, where the League of Nations headquarters had been. The Secretariat set up temporary quarters first at Hunter College in New York City, then at Lake Success, Long Island. The General Assembly met at Flushing Meadow, N.Y.

Various sites were proposed for a permanent home. The question was dramatically settled in December 1946 when John D. Rockefeller, Jr., offered a six-block tract in midtown New York City as an $8,500,000 gift. New York City contributed additional land along the East River and rights to the water front. The 18-acre site extends from the river to First Avenue and from East 48th Street to East 42nd Street.

Construction was financed by an interest-free loan of 65 million dollars from the United States. The cornerstone was laid Oct. 24, 1949. The Secretariat was completed in 1951. In 1952 the General Assembly and the Conference Building were completed.

The buildings were designed by a group of international architects headed by Wallace K. Harrison of the United States. Built of glass, marble, steel, and aluminum, they are functional and modern, with dramatic contrasts of form and mass.

The General Assembly is long and low, with concave sides and a sloping roof surmounted by a dome. The public entrance, at the north, leads to a large lobby. The south front is a great window looking out on the Delegates' Garden and the Circular Fountain. The vast hall, under the domed ceiling, is decorated with murals by Fernand Léger, a French artist.

The long, low Conference Building, on the riverside, built of metal and glass, has chambers for the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and the Trusteeship Council. This building connects the General Assembly with the 39-story Secretariat.

A new library was dedicated in 1961. It was named after Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, who was killed in a plane crash earlier that year.

An International Enclave

The United Nations site was made international territory by agreement with the United States government. It is patroled by United Nations guards in gray uniforms, who come from all parts of the world.

The United Nations has its own post office and issues its own stamps. The stamps are designed to acquaint people with the work of the United Nations.

All but a few meetings are open to the public. Visitors may obtain tickets by telephoning in advance or by writing to United Nations, New York 10017.

THE UNITED NATIONS IN ACTION

The General Assembly opened its first session in London on Jan. 10, 1946. Trygve Lie, foreign minister of Norway, was elected the first secretary-general.

The charter called for armed forces, contributed by the member states, to carry out the decisions of the Security Council. The forces were to be directed by a Military Staff Committee, consisting of the chiefs of staff of the five permanent Council members. The Security Council in 1946 set up the committee and asked it to draw up plans. The Soviet Union blocked agreement in the Committee. The Council was too divided even to discuss the Committee's problems.

Efforts at Disarmament and Atomic Control

The General Assembly set up the Atomic Energy Commission to plan control of atomic weapons. The United States in 1946 submitted a plan for an international authority to supervise each stage of atomic production. The Soviet Union proposed instead to ban the production and use of atomic weapons. It also refused to submit to any effective inspection or control.

Deadlock in the Security Council

It had been expected that the Big Five in the Security Council would work together to keep the peace, but the Soviet Union often used its veto to block action. When Iran demanded that the Soviet Union withdraw the troops it had stationed there during World War II, the Soviet delegate walked out of the Council, though Soviet troops did later leave Iran.

In December 1946 Greece complained that Communist states on its borders were supporting the guerrillas that had plunged Greece into civil war. The Soviet veto again kept the Council from acting.

The Rise of the General Assembly

To end Soviet obstruction, the nations began to take their problems to the vetoless General Assembly. The Assembly, under the charter, can only discuss and recommend; it cannot take action. Unlike the Council, however, it represents all the member nations; and its resolutions can influence world opinion.

One of the earliest political disputes considered by the Assembly was the problem of Korea. In 1947 it called for elections in the divided nation and sent a commission to observe them. North Korea, which was under Soviet domination, refused to admit the commission. Elections were held in South Korea, and a national government was set up.

The Assembly also sent an investigating committee to Greece after the Soviet Union vetoed the continuance of the Security Council's committee.

Social Welfare and Human Rights

The social welfare program of the United Nations embraces a wide variety of activities. Its agencies and commissions have given aid to many thousands of refugees and cared for needy children in many countries. They are concerned also with education, health, forced labor and slavery, equal rights for women, and the protection of minorities.

To promote and encourage respect for "human rights and fundamental freedoms," the General Assembly issued as a proclamation the 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' (Dec. 10, 1948). In 1950 it proclaimed December 10 Human Rights Day.

A convention to prevent and punish genocide was submitted to member governments for ratification in 1948. Genocide was defined as an attempt to destroy "a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group."

Development Aid and "Atoms for Peace"

Technical, economic, and social aid to developing countries is provided by the United Nations Development Programme. Twelve international organizations share in its operations. Typical of the aid they provide are studies of a nation's resources and advice on agricultural methods, industrial programs, engineering projects, and procurement of capital.

In 1953 President Eisenhower proposed to the General Assembly that it should set up an agency to further the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. In 1956, delegates from 81 countries, including the Soviet Union, approved the statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The purpose of the agency is to exchange scientific information and pool materials.