International organizations

The United Nations Organization (UNO)

On 25^th June 1945, 51 countries met in San Francisco to sign the Charter of the United Nations. Their main aim was to make sure that never again so many lives would be lost in war. In fact, around 10 million soldiers had died in the First World War and 55 million in the Second. The original 51 members have now become 189 and each state has one vote, no matter how small they are.

The UN doesn't have its own army. Instead, member states voluntarily supply troops and personnel. The first peace-keeping force was used in 1950, during the crisis in Korea. Since then the UN has been involved in about 40 peace missions, and has helped more than 30 million^ refugees. About 1300 UN peacekeepers have died on duty. Less than 3 % were Americans.

But keeping the peace is only a small part of United Nations' work, About 80% of their effort is devoted to developing countries to learn how to help themselves. For instance the UN agency responsible for education, science and culture is called UNESCO. It has led a campaign to help people in poorer countries to read and write. In 1970 only 10% of Ethiopians could read and write. Now the figure is over 70 %.

European Union (EU)

The UK is a member of the EU, which promotes social and economic progress among its members, a common foreign and security policy. European citizenship and police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The other 14 EU Member States are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, the Irish Republic, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain end Sweden.

The Commonwealth

There are 54 members of the Commonwealth, including the UK. It is a voluntary association of independent states, nearly all of which were once British territories. Its stated purpose is to promote world peace by helping people of widely different cultures and values to understand and cooperate with each other. The Queen is the head of the Commonwealth.

There are frequent meetings of heads of Government, specialized conferences of other ministers and officials, expert groups. Trade and cultural exhibitions and conferences of professional and unofficial medical, cultural, educational and economic organizations are other ways in which frequent contacts are made.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a collective defense/collective security organization based on security guarantees and mutual commitments between North America and Europe. It was created in response to the growing Soviet threat in Europe after World War II. The Washington Treaty establishing NATO was signed on April 4, 1949, by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. NATO's membership was subsequently enlarged, bringing in Greece and Turkey in 1952, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) in 1955, Spain in 1982, and Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in 1999. In 2002 NATO invited Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia to join the alliance in 2004. The whole membership nowadays is 26 states.

Headquartered in Brussels, NATO is an inter­governmental organization. Its decisions require consensus. The permanent ambassadors of the member-states meet in the North Atlantic Council (NAC), chaired by the Secretary General.

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

It is a regional security organization whose 55 participating states, are from Europe, Central Aaia and North America. All decisions are taken by consensus. The OSCE is based in Vienna. The main areas of work are: prevention of potential conflicts; observing elections and providing advice on human rights, democracy and law; civil society development.

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is the international organization, or alliance. consisting of eleven former Soviet Republics. Since its formation, the member-states of CIS have signed a large number of documents concerning integration and cooperation on matters of economics, defense and foreign policy. The most significant issue for the CIS is the establishment of a free trade zone / economic union between the member states that was launched in 2005. The CIS is headquartered in Minsk, Belarus, The chairman of the CIS is known as the Executive Secretary. All of the CIS's executive secretaries have been from Belarus or Russia. The current executive secretary is Sergei Lebedev since October 2007.

Other international bodies include: International Monetary Fund (IMF), which regulates the international financial system; the World Bank, which provides loans to finance economic and social projects in developing countries; the World Trade Organization (WTO).

United Nations

United Nations (U N) is an organization of nations thai, works for world peace and security and the betterment of humanity. Almost all of the world's independent countries belong to the UN. Each member nation sends representatives to UN headquarters in New York City where they discuss and try to solve problems.

The United Nations has two main goals: peace and human dignity. If fighting between two or more countries breaks out anywhere, the UN may be asked to try to stop it. After the fighting stops, the UN may help work out ways to keep it from starting again. The organization has also helped people in numerous parts of the world gain their freedom and better their way of life.

The United Nations was established on October 24, 1945, shortly after World War II. As the war drew to an end the nations that opposed Germany, Italy and Japan decided that such a war must never happen again. Representatives of these nations met in San Francisco in April 1945 and worked out a plan for an organization to help keep peace n the world. This plan is Described in a document called the Charter of the United Nations In June 1945, 50 nations signed the UN Charter. They were the first UN members. Since then, more than 100 other nations have joined.

The six major organs of UN carry on the work of the organization. These organs are: General Assembly, Security Council, Secretariat, Economic and Social Council of Justice And Trusteeship Council Various specialized agencies related to the UN deal with, particular problems such as communications, education, food and agriculture, health and labour. UN headquarters consists of several buildings along the East River in New York City. The flags of all the member nations fly in front of the UN headquarters.

The Charter.

The Charter of the United Nations is the constitution of the UN. It includes the plan used for organizing the UN, and the rules by which the UN is governed. UN members agree to carry out the requirements of the charter. The charter has 19 chapters divided into 111 articles that explain the purposes, principles and operating methods of the UN. The charter lists four purposes and seven principles of the UN.

• to preserve world peace and security,

• to encourage nations to be just in their actions toward each other,

• to help nations to cooperate in trying to solve their problems,

• to serve as an agency through which nations can work toward these goals.

The first principle of the UN is that all members have equal rights. Second, all members are expected to carry out their duties under the charter. Third, they agree to the principle of settling their disputes peacefully. Fourth, they agree not to use force or the threat of force against other nations, except in self-defence. Fifth, members agree to help the UN in every action it takes to carry out the purposes of the charter. Sixth, the UN agrees to act on the principle that non-member states should preserve world peace and security. And seventh, the UN accepts the principle of non-interfering in the actions of a member nation within its own boarders. But these actions must not hurt other nations.

The General Assembly is the only major organ in which all UN members are represented. The charter permits the Assembly to discuss any question of importance to the UN and to Recommend action to be taken by the members or by the UN organs.

Clinton-Yeltsin Summit

President Bill Clinton of the United States and President Boris Yeltsin of Russia address the press after a summit in April 1993, in Vancouver, Canada. Leaders of nations are the most important individual actors in international relations.

United Nations Headquarters

In 1945 the United States Congress invited the United Nations (UN) to establish its permanent headquarters in the United States. Completed in 1952, the UN complex sits in Manhattan, alongside the East River, in the city of New York. Under the UN's agreement with the United States, the site of the UN headquarters is exempt from local laws.

UN General Assembly

The General Assembly of the United Nations, seen here in session, is made up of representatives of all member countries of the UN. Functioning as a global town hall, the Assembly may address any matter covered by the UN's charter. However, because it has no authority to enforce its decisions, the Assembly's resolutions are not legally binding.