United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose member-states pledge cooperation regarding matters of international security, humanitarian activity, social and economic development, and environmental sustainability. Formed in 1945 to replace the failed League of Nations (1919–1946), the United Nations is composed of six principal organs: the Secretariat, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the International Court of Justice, and the (now largely defunct) Trusteeship Council. Intended to bring states together in the interest of preventing war, the United Nations provides a loosely assembled institutional framework for protecting members against other states' aggressions. Notwithstanding ideals of unity and justice, the structure of power within the United Nations reflects the realities of disagreements and differences in the world at large. From the beginning, the organization favored the often-competing interests of Britain, the United States, and the USSR. With increased attention paid to globalization in the 1980s, and the thawing of the Cold War, the internal dynamic of the United Nations shifted. Members focused increasingly on coordinating and advancing global governance. China became more active, and nongovernmental organizations external to the organization pressured UN bodies to respond to diverse interests of civil society, including groups' concerns about climate change and the environment. Accordingly, research on the United Nations has broadened since the 1940s to examine not only state-centric models of international relations but also the historical structures of global capitalism that shape present-day inequalities. At the time of this writing, 192 members make up the United Nations. The organization is funded through member-states' assessed and voluntary contributions; some states are in arrears. UN headquarters are located in New York City, and the International Court of Justice is located in The Hague.