Relationship between the United States and the United Nations
Fifty years ago, representatives from 50 nations gathered in San Francisco with an ambitious project in mind: bring the world’s nations together to promote peace and development. Thus, the United Nations was born. As a charter member, the United States was an instrumental player in the organization’s founding. It was the first time the country had given noteworthy support to such an international organization; it refused to join the League of Nations, a forerunner of the United Nations founded after World War I.
“While the United States was one of the founding members of the United Nations, the relationship between the United States and the United Nations has always been quite mixed,” says Dr. Joy Gordon, an associate professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut who has authored numerous publications on human rights and international law. As with any body with many members holding different opinions and goals, there are bound to be some massive debates.
As a charter member of the United Nations, the United States holds one of five coveted permanent positions on the Security Council, along with Britain, France, Russia and China. This body, also known as the P5, is designed to maintain international peace and security. The Security Council also has 10 elected positions that rotate on a two-year basis, but none of these positions holds veto power like the P5 does. “As a result,” states Gordon, “the P5 hold enormous power within the Security Council.”
However, the Security Council is just one part of the United Nations. “The General Assembly is the democratic organ within the United Nations. Each nation has one vote, and no nation has veto power,” Gordon adds. While the General Assembly meets in New York City, the distinctive United Nations building is officially international territory.
In recent years, the UN has undergone major reforms designed to improve its coordination and accountability, as well as overhaul peacekeeping operations and human rights advocacy. “We must reshape the organization in ways not previously imagined and with a boldness and speed not previously shown,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this year. Improving peacekeeping operations included increasing its budget and giving more authority to people working at the field level, while its big departments were restructured to improve service and administration at the country level. The United States has been a major instigator of UN reform for many years.