United Nations

In the aftermath of World War I, the international community established the League of Nations to curtail some of the worst excesses of mass slaughter. That the League of Nations was powerless to prevent the genocide and slaughter on a genuinely global scale during World War II did not deter the international community from starting again after that war with the construction of another, not dissimilar organization. Thus, the United Nations (UN) was born with grand aims of world peace and freedom in a tolerant world that worked by consensus but respected the diversity of cultures. The Charter of the UN was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the UN Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945.

It was a world seemingly weary of war. The Preamble to the Charter sets forth a context critical [Page 469]for all aspects of development in any society and determination to:

• Save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind
• Reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small
• Establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained
• Promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom

For these ends, the Charter outlines a code of behavior:

• To practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors
• To unite our strength to maintain international peace and security
• To ensure, by the acceptance of principles, and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest
• To employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples

Article 1 states that the purposes of the United Nations are: 1.

1.
To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace
2.
To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace
3.
To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion
4.
To be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends (For full text of the Charter, follow links at http://www.un.org.)

The discrepancy between moral ideal and historical/political reality was as evident at the time of the UN Charter as it is now, perhaps more so. The timing, for example, of the first signatures on the Charter on 26 June 1945 is chilling. These signatures appeared—with their commitment to peace amongst nations—less than 2 months before the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 8, 1945).

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