The Attraction of the United Nations

People everywhere seek peace and security with justice. The United Nations is the principal international institution committed to implementing a global ethic aiming for those goals. Its Charter requires member states to settle their disputes peacefully through preventive diplomacy and mediation or failing these, coercive means such as economic sanctions. Only when these have proved ineffective will the Security Council authorise use of force. Many countries jump quickly to military means to address conflict. This sequence is required when international action is necessary to protect civilians who are being abused by their government. The UN General Assembly's Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a wide-ranging statement of principles for strengthening human dignity and has become the foundation for many focused conventions on the rights of particular groups. UN funds, programs and agencies are major contributors to the global infrastructure for efficient and equitable international economic, social and environmental relations.Cosmopolitanism was one of the intellectual bases that led to the formation of the United Nations (UN). Immanuel Kant's Toward Perpetual Peace, published in 1795 proposed a federation of nations, and is regarded by some scholars as the culmination of Enlightenment cosmopolitanism. Adam Smith wrote of 'the great society of mankind' and Kant advocated the political unification of humanity underpinned by an international law. Such ideas continued to inspire international institutional experiments (Thomas 2014: 72). The failure of the League of Nations motivated planning of a more comprehensive and demanding model for international governance. Led by President Franklin Roosevelt's internationalism, the United Nations was established in 1945 by the Allied countries to prevent repetition of the horrors of World War II.The attraction of the UN is that it is the principal international institution committed to implementing a global ethic aiming for peace and justice. The purposes expressed in Article 1 of the Charter set high aspirations for the Organisation and for its Member States:maintaining international peace and security ... by peaceful means and ... settlement of international disputes; to develop friendly relations among nations based on ... equal rights and self-determination of peoples ... ; to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character ...; and for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends (UN 1945: 3, 4).International dispute settlement - peaceful conflict resolution - is a fundamental and essential requirement for improving human wellbeing. So the central work of the UN is of profound importance to every person in the world. The commitments to the international rule of law, to economic and social development and to human rights are essential for the wellbeing of all.The centrality of those ideals is a major part of the appeal of the UN. The other foundation of its legitimacy is its nearly universal membership. The UN is the political heart of the international system. It is the premier club for states. Membership of the UN is one of the symbols of statehood. A delegation from Timor Leste led by President Xanana Gusmao was welcomed by the President of the UN General Assembly after decades of struggle, an interim UN administration and a UNconducted plebiscite. Gusmao responded to the packed chamber, the emotional intensity of the occasion showing that this international recognition was the culminating point in the Timorese struggle for independence and international recognition.Peace and SecurityThe Security Council has 'primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security' (Article 24, UN 1945). Article 25 requires member states to carry out the decisions of the Council (UN, 1945: 16), making it the most powerful body in the UN system. …