Have the Aspirations of the Un's Founders as Laid Out in the Charter Been Met?
Have the aspirations of the UN’s founders as laid out in the Charter been met?
The United Nations was established at the San Francisco Conference on October 24 1945. The world had just witnessed the failure of the League of Nations to fulfill its purpose, the prevention of a Second World War. Consequently the countries that had opposed Germany and Japan looked to succeed where they had previously failed in promoting a “just and peaceful global community” (Taylor; Curtis, 2008 p.314). The objectives, principles and structure of the organization they hoped would achieve this were recorded in the United Nations Charter. Upon entering the UN, members were required to consent to the set of conditions laid out in this treaty. At the outset there were 51 members. By 2006 this number had grown to include 192 member states, almost encompassing the entire world. Yet whilst the organization has grown in size, the question remains as to whether those aspirations originally laid out in the Charter have actually been met. I will argue that the United Nations has had some success in its capacity as a humanitarian organization, as well as being a useful tool helping to solve international economic, social and cultural problems. However I believe that the UN remains somewhat impotent with regards to issues of international peace and security.
The UN Charter is composed of a preamble, followed by numerous articles grouped by topic into a total of 19 chapters. The preamble offers an overview of the hopeful aspirations upon which the UN was founded. The vision that is described consists of four crucial goals. These are then reiterated in the first chapter in a more formal context. The fist target of the UN is “To maintain international peace and security” (UN Charter). I will argue that the UN is, and indeed always will be incapable achieving this. The second goal laid out in the Charter is “To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of
The United Nations was established at the San Francisco Conference on October 24 1945. The world had just witnessed the failure of the League of Nations to fulfill its purpose, the prevention of a Second World War. Consequently the countries that had opposed Germany and Japan looked to succeed where they had previously failed in promoting a “just and peaceful global community” (Taylor; Curtis, 2008 p.314). The objectives, principles and structure of the organization they hoped would achieve this were recorded in the United Nations Charter. Upon entering the UN, members were required to consent to the set of conditions laid out in this treaty. At the outset there were 51 members. By 2006 this number had grown to include 192 member states, almost encompassing the entire world. Yet whilst the organization has grown in size, the question remains as to whether those aspirations originally laid out in the Charter have actually been met. I will argue that the United Nations has had some success in its capacity as a humanitarian organization, as well as being a useful tool helping to solve international economic, social and cultural problems. However I believe that the UN remains somewhat impotent with regards to issues of international peace and security.
The UN Charter is composed of a preamble, followed by numerous articles grouped by topic into a total of 19 chapters. The preamble offers an overview of the hopeful aspirations upon which the UN was founded. The vision that is described consists of four crucial goals. These are then reiterated in the first chapter in a more formal context. The fist target of the UN is “To maintain international peace and security” (UN Charter). I will argue that the UN is, and indeed always will be incapable achieving this. The second goal laid out in the Charter is “To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of
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