The United Nations

As the successor of the ill-starred League of Nations, the Allied powers amidst the furies of war, prepared plans for another experiment in international cooperation-the United Nations. Victories on the battlefield, it was widely assumed, would be followed by common victories for peace, progress and prosperity. “A world organization to control lawlessness,” remarked the British diplomatist, Sir Alexander Cadogan, “is as essential as traffic regulations to control our modern traffic.” The finishing touches were put upon the constitution or Charter of the U.N. in the spring of 1945 at a conference in San Francisco- thus an international ideal cherished over the centuries by isolated thinkers and men of good will was implemented afresh. Fifty-one governments promptly ratified the charter and twenty-five more came in later.

Built upon the experience with the League of Nations, the U.N. embraced six principal branches and over thirty subsidiary agencies or committees. The major elements were a General Assembly, a Security Council, an Economic and Social Council, a Trusteeship Council, a Secretariat and an International Court of Justice.

The General Assembly was the common parliament of all the member nations. Under the Charter, members were committed to promote “international cooperation in the political field,” in “the economic, social, cultural, educational and health fields,” and to aid ” in the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all,” Admission of new states rested with the Assembly; with the consent of the Security Council, the Assembly was empowered to suspend any member . Normally the Assembly would meet once a year, through a session might be called at any time either by the Security Council or by a majority on the U.N. members. Each country would cast one vote in the Assembly. The Security Council resembled international executive committees, functioning continuously. It contained representatives of the “Big Five”-the United States, Britain, the U.S.S.R., France and China-each holding a seat permanently, and six other countries chosen for two for two year terms by the Assembly.

The Security Council resembled an international executive commit, functioning continuously. It contained representatives of the “Big Five”-the United States, Britain, the U.S.S.R., France and China-each holding a seat permanently, and six other countries chosen for two year terms by the Assembly. To the Security Council was assigned the responsibility to investigate quarrels between nations or any situation that might lead to international friction and to propose pacific accommodations.

In case of a persistent threat to peace, the Council might summon U.N. members to apply diplomatic and economic sanctions against the offending country. If necessary, collective armed action might be ordered.

Advisory to the Security Council were a Military Staff Committee and a special atomic Energy Commission, authorized in 1946. The Military Staff Committee, made up of the Chiefs of Staff of the “Big Five,” would command armed contingents put at the disposal of the Council by member nations. (No forces have ever actually been assigned to the Council.) Composed of delegates from the eleven states in the Security Council and from Canada, the Atomic Energy Commission was empowered to deal with international questions and plans bearing upon atomic energy.

Responsibility for carrying out the social and economic objectives of the Charter was entrusted to the Economic and Social Council. Included in the declared purposes was improvement of standards of living and health, betterment of conditions of employment around the globe and international cooperation in educational and cultural affairs. The Assembly would periodically pick eighteen countries to send representatives to the council.

Among the specialized agencies, which operated autonomously, was an Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the center of liaison for intellectual cooperation and research in scientific and social areas. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) had charge of raising levels of nutrition and bettering the lot of rural populations. A legacy from the League, the International Labor Organization (ILO), sought to improve social conditions of industrial workers of the world. In the realm of finance, an International Bank would provide loans for reconstruction and development projects which were normally unattractive to private foreign capital. An International Refugee Organization (IRO), which assumed the burden of a wartime relief organization spoken of as UNRRA, would care for refugees and displaced persons on the hunt for new homes.

The Trusteeship Council supervised the administration of three classes of dependent lands: pre-war mandated areas, certain territories detached from enemy countries after the Second World War, and any other parcels that might voluntarily be turned over to the jurisdiction of the Council. This body operated under the general authority of the Assembly, except that any territory designated as a “strategic area” passed to the control of the Security Council.

Each government holding a trust territory was pledged to promote the welfare of the area, including measures looking to eventual self-government or independence. Annual reports on conditions in the trusteeships would be transmitted to Council officials, who were privileged to inspect trust areas, if they cared to do so. The Big Five held seats in this Council as well as representatives from other countries holding trusteeships; still others might be named by the Assembly.

The Secretary-General of the U.N. was the executive director of the permanent secretariat, which assisted in the activities of the whole organization. Not only would he act as secretary at meetings of the Assembly and of the three most important Councils, but he might bring before the Security Council any issue that he felt constituted a danger to peace. As first incumbent of this vital and delicate office, the Assembly, on recommendation of the Security Council, elected Trygve Lie, a colorful, broadminded and affable son of Norway. Hundreds of men and women, recruited without regard to nationality, were employed in the various divisions of the U.N.

The International Court of Justice would arbitrate international controversies submitted to it and act as counsel to the U.N. on legal matters. It had no power to force governments to accept its jurisdiction. Fifteen judges would be chosen by the Assembly and the Security Council, and cases would be heard at the Hague Peace Palace, the homes of the original tribunal for disputes between nations.

Altogether the institutionalism of the U.N. was quite elaborate, the end product in fact of a lengthy process of experience and experiment. Checks and balance were provided, as in the Constitutional of the United States, though there was no supreme court to rule on jurisdictional questions. It was plain that the “Big Five” would determine the performance of the U.N. Their power would be exercised principally in the Security Council. An affirmative vote by each of the Big Five was required on any proposition, save questions of procedure; which is to say that collective military action would not be invoked against any of the stronger nations. Stated otherwise, a negative vote or veto by the representative of nay of the Big Five countries could tie the hands of the Security Council on any major decision. It was assumed, however, that the veto would be used sparingly, as a measure of last resort to avoid war between the leading powers. Amendments to the Charter would come into force only after approval by two-thirds of the Assembly and ratification by a similar proportion of member states, including all of the Big Five.

The ability of the United Nations to serve as an effective instrument of security and peace would depend in reality upon the policies and the diplomacy pursued by Soviet Russia, the United States and Britain. In and of itself the United Nations commanded no more authority, no more power than the leading members chose to give it. Well before the U.N. was installed in 1952 in its resplendent home in New York City, the expectations of the more optimistic partisans of the infant institution had been belied. How that came to pass-the failures as well as the achievements of the U.N.-falls in the pages that follow.