United Nations

United Nations. The UN replaced the failed League of Nations after the Second World War. The term was first used in the 1942 declaration by 26 anti-axis states. Wartime negotiations between Russia, America, China, and Britain produced a blueprint for a new global security institution, rejecting Churchill's preference for institutionalized spheres of influence. Following minor amendments at the San Francisco conference in 1945, the United Nations came into being on 24 October 1945 with 51 member states. By 2000, there were 188.

The institutions of the UN bore some similarity to those of the league, though the General Assembly was empowered to act on majority votes, rather than the principle of unanimity. But the five main powers, UK, USA, USSR, France, and China, gave themselves a power of veto in the Security Council, which Britain retains, though her right to do so has been questioned.

The effectiveness of the UN in maintaining global security has rested to a large extent on the superpowers being in agreement. UN peacekeeping activities proliferated at times of relaxation during the Cold War, and after 1989, but were rarer when the two main powers were trading vetoes with each other in the 1950s or the 1980s. The UN was able to intervene in the Korean War because the USSR at the time was boycotting the Security Council.

In the League of Nations, the absence of the USA and Russia allowed Britain and France to play leading roles, which have not been repeated in the UN. Britain's reliance on her understanding with the USA has limited her scope for independent initiatives. In addition, the ‘clubby’ traditional style of British diplomacy has fitted uneasily at times into the rhetorical style which became common in both the General Assembly and the Security Council at the height of the Cold War.

The United Nations has occasionally proved useful to Britain—for example, in relieving her of her burdensome commitments in Palestine in 1947. Although the General Assembly condemned Britain's action over Suez in 1956, the dispatch of peacekeepers to the canal enabled Britain to extricate herself with some dignity. British soldiers have also played a part in UN peacekeeping activities, notably in Cyprus and in Bosnia. But strong disagreements over policy towards Iraq in 2003 weakened UN authority.

Christopher N. Lanigan