The United Nations General Assembly Since WW II, the4 UN has been the centre-piece of global governance The

UN is a complex system with many organs and IGOs within the UN system such as the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the UN Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) UN General Assembly is at the centre stage Its three weeks of General debate allows small and large states to address all the nations of the world The UN Security Council is the core of the global security system The 2002-2003 debate over with Iraq to endorse a US-led war or not? The 1999 debate over NATO intervention in Kosovo triggered debate over a possible new norm of humanitarian intervention The unprecedented Millennium Summit and declaration Awarding of 2001 Nobel Peace Prize to UN and Secretary General Kofi Annan The founding spirit An organization that could help avoid future conflicts and promote international economic and social cooperation Foundations of United Nations From League to United Nations The Atlantic Charter of August 1941 a joint declaration by US President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston

Churchill calling for collaboration on economic issues and a permanent system of security The UN Charter was then drafted in October 1944 based on the principle of sovereign equality of members. Decisions on security issues would require unanimity of the permanent members of the Security Council. The UN Charters Key Principles The most fundamental principle is the sovereign equality of the member states. All member states shall: (1)Refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any manner inconsistent with UN purposes, (2) Settle their international disputes by peaceful means (3) Article 2 asserts that Nothing in the present Charter shall authorize the UN to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state. Since the end of Cold War, many of the UN Peacekeeping Operations have involved intrastate rather than interstate conflicts, in other words, conflicts within rather than between states. In Article 51, the Charter affirms states Right of individual or collective self-defence against armed attack. This self-defence principle, has led to many debates:

In the Middle East conflicts, was it Israel or the Arab states that first used force? In the debate over Iraq, did Iraq possess weapons of massdestruction and did these pose a threat to the United States and other states? The Major Organs of the UN The Security Council, the General assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the international Court of Justice, and the Secretariat The affiliated Organizations There are 16 of these independently established, specialized agencies like WHO, FAO, UNESCO, IMF, World Bank (but not the World Trade Organization) General Assembly One state, one vote formula Power only to make recommendations to members Surveillance and control over all UN programmes and subsidiary bodies Elect Non-permanent members of the Security Council ECOSOC, and the Trusteeship Council, Appointing judges to the ICJ Global resource management

Human rights Legal issues Make inquiries and studies with respect to conflict Discuss a situation and make recommendations when Security Council is deadlocked by a veto situation (Suez and Hungary 1956; The Middle East 1958; the Congo 1960; Palestine - 1997) Development of International Law The Common Heritage principle was incorporated into the 1967 treaty on Outer Space and 1982 Convention on Law of the Sea. Multilateral law-making treaties, including the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear weapons, the 1971 Seabed Arms Control Treaty All the major international conventions on Human Rights Decision-making in the general Assembly The Cold War led to the formation of two competing coalitions of states aligned with either the United States or the Soviet Union. Since the Cold Wars end, Russia and other East European States have tended to vote with the West Europeans or larger Northern Group. North-South issues centered on economic inequalities and development follow colonialism and decolonization, and Great Power military capabilities.

The concept of human Security encompasses a set of agenda items that incorporate human rights, development, international security, and the environment. Criticism of the UN General Assembly The number of resolutions passed: 343 per year during 1981-1985 Since the Cold Wars end, the General Assembly has been marginalized as the epicenter of UN activity shifted back to the Security Council The General Assembly needs reform and revitalization. Nothing can be done, without the political will of the majority of states to reform