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International Relations-PSC 201
VU
LESSON 28
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (CONTINUED)
The League of Nations
The League of Nations was a general membership, general purpose IGO. The League was formed in 1919
to prevent war through collective security and settling disputes through negotiations and diplomacy; and to
improve global welfare.
Despite these bold aims, it could not prevent aggression by the fascist powers in late 1930s.The UN
replaced the League after WWII.
United Nations
The UN is a general membership and general purpose IGO. The UN was established in 1954 and is now
made up of 191 states. UN membership is open to all "peace-loving states". The General Assembly
determines admission upon recommendation of the Security Council.
The term UN was coined by Roosevelt during WWII, to refer to the Allies. The name was transferred to
the UN as it was founded by the victorious powers in the war as a condition of the Atlantic Charter and
other wartime agreements.
The UN system is financed in two ways: assessed and voluntary contributions from member states. The
General Assembly is a principal organ of the UN and it includes representatives from all member states.
The UN Security Council is the most powerful UN organ, which passes resolutions, determines the need
for sanctions and is comprised of China, Russia, US, UK and France, all of whom have veto powers. There
are also non-veto non-permanent members appointed to the Security Council, which are brought onto the
Council from the General Assembly.
Criticism of the UN
The UN provides a platform to discuss global security concerns and highlights development and
environmental needs. There are charges that the UN is increasingly attempting to usurp or conversely not
doing enough to override national sovereignty. In general, the UN has shown a reluctance to act upon its
resolutions.
Others say the UN gives precedence to government authority over individual liberty. They point to the
inclusion on the UNCHR of Sudan, Cuba and Libya, which have poor records on human rights.
These above countries however, argue that Western countries, with their history of colonialist aggression,
have no right to point fingers.
There are also internal institutional failures of the UN such as allegations of mismanagement and corruption
regarding the Oil for Food Program.
Some point to the UN failure to act (or succeed) in security issues such as the ethnic cleansing campaign in
Rwanda or its failure to successfully deliver food to starving citizens of Somalia, which was usually seized by
local warlords instead of reaching those who needed it.
It is said that being in majority Arab states have an unfairly large influence which has enabled a large
number of UN resolutions condemning Israel. Alternatively, some argue that the UN is ruled by a "tyranny
of the rich". Critics point out to the repeated use of the veto to protect Israel, and the failure of the UN to
enforce its resolutions on powerful countries like the US while enforcing them on weaker states like Iraq or
Syria.
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International Relations-PSC 201
VU
Given the above criticism there is often talk of abandoning or of reforming the UN (including the
expansion of the Security Council, since it does not include many of the prominent powers of the world like
Germany and Japan. Since the UN was formulated after WWII and it is therefore criticized as no longer
reflecting realities of the current world order).
Relevant Vocabulary
Aggression: hostility
Seize: usurp or take by force
Assessed: determined
Condemning: criticizing or blaming
Tyranny: injustice implemented by use of force
Abandoning: to leave, or to let go of
Suggested Readings
Students are advised to read the following chapters to develop a better understanding of the various
principals highlighted in this hand-out:
Chapter 12 in `"A Study of International Relations" by Dr. Sultan Khan
Internet Resources
In addition to reading from the textbook, please visit the following web-pages for this lecture, which
provide useful and interesting information:
United Nations website
www.un.org
League of Nations
www.althist.com/league_of_nations.htm
Table of Contents:
  1. WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND WHAT IS ITS RELEVANCE?
  2. APPROACHES TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: THEORIES IN IR
  3. APPROACHES TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS:Traditional Approach
  4. THE NATION-STATE SYSTEM:Further Evolution of Nation-State
  5. THE NATION STATE SYSTEM: BASIC FEATURES OF A NATION-STATE
  6. NATIONAL INTEREST:Criteria for Defining National Interest
  7. NATIONAL INTEREST:Variations in National Interest, Relevant Vocabulary
  8. BALANCE OF POWER (BOP):BoP from a historical perspective
  9. BALANCE OF POWER (CONTINUED):Degree of Polarization, Functions of BoP
  10. DIPLOMACY:How Diplomacy Functions, Traditional Versus Modern Diplomacy
  11. DIPLOMACY (CONTINUED):Diplomatic Procedures & Practices, Functions of Diplomacy
  12. COLONIALISM, NEO-COLONIALISM & IMPERIALISM:Judging Colonization
  13. COLONIALISM, NEO-COLONIALISM & IMPERIALISM:Types of Neo-Colonialism
  14. COLONIALISM, NEO-COLONIALISM & IMPERIALISM:Objectives of Imperialism
  15. NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER:Criticism of IEO, NIEO Activities
  16. NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER:Prerequisites for the NIEO
  17. NON-ALIGNMENT MOVEMENT:Origin of NAM, NAM’s Institutional Structure
  18. NON-ALIGNMENT MOVEMENT (CONTINUED):Cairo Summit, Egypt - 1964
  19. NON-ALIGNMENT MOVEMENT:Criticism of NAM, NAM and Pakistan
  20. THE COLD WAR AND ITS IMPACTS - INTRODUCING THE COLD WAR PHENOMENON
  21. THE COLD WAR AND ITS IMPACTS (CONTINUED):Truman Doctrine, Marshal Plan
  22. THE COLD WAR AND ITS IMPACTS (CONTINUED):End of the Cold War
  23. DISARMAMENT AND ARMS CONTROL:History of Disarmament
  24. DISARMAMENT AND ARMS CONTROL (CONTINUED):Other Disarmament Efforts
  25. THE RELEVANCE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
  26. THE RELEVANCE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (CONTINUED)
  27. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:Need for IGOs, Categorizing IGOs
  28. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (CONTINUED):United Nations, Criticism of the UN
  29. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (CONTINUED):European Union, World Bank
  30. THE ROLE OF DECISION MAKING IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
  31. DECISION MAKING (CONTINUED):Rational Actor Model, Group Politics Model
  32. SYSTEMS APPROACH TO IR:Underlying Assumptions, Elements of the System
  33. SYSTEMS BASED APPROACH (CONTINUED) – DISTINCT SYSTEMS IN IR
  34. LIBERALISM AND SOCIAL DEMOCRACY:Neoliberalism
  35. LIBERALISM AND SOCIAL DEMOCRACY (CONTINUED):Liberalism vs. Social Democracy
  36. INTEGRATION IN IR:Preconditions for Integration, Assessing Integration
  37. GLOBALIZATION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS:Advocates of Globalization
  38. THE GLOBAL DIVIDE:World Social Forum, Can the Global Divide Be Bridged?
  39. FOCUS ON FOREIGN INVESTMENTS:Pro-poor Foreign Investments
  40. CONFLICT AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION:Components of a Conflict
  41. CONFLICT RESOLUTION:Creative response, Appropriate assertiveness
  42. THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT:Global Concern for the Environment
  43. THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT:Environmental Concerns and IR, Some Other Issues
  44. HOW IR DIFFER FROM DOMESTIC POLITICS?:Strategies for altering state behavior
  45. CHANGE AND IR:Continuity in IR, Causality and counterfactuals, IR in a nutshell