International Organizations

Early International Organizations The rise of formal international organizations in the 19 th century was a result of many factors: ▫Changing technology ▫Increased travel ▫Ease of distance communication Not all IO’s are political ▫The Red Cross was founded by Swiss philanthropist Henry Dunant who was moved to organize help in time of war

The League of Nations The first global permanent political organization Formed to prevent war between nations by promoting international cooperation Founded in 1919 (part of the Treaty of Versailles) Based on collective security: ▫Member states within an organization will provide military support and cooperation in the event of an attack on any other member state

The League of Nations 2 At the largest, The League had 57 members ▫Most of the combatants in WWI with the exception of the USA ▫Woodrow Wilson (President of the US) was a great supporter of The League however the policy of the US after WWI was one of isolationism. They did not want to get involved in future international crisis, economically or militarily Based in Geneva, Switzerland, a neutral country that did not fight in WWI ▫Geneva is also the home of the Red Cross

The League of Nations failures 1.Three of the most powerful nations in the world were not members: ▫USA – isolationism ▫Russia – communist ▫Germany – cause of WWI 2.Britain and France the next most powerful nations had been devastated by WWI and could not contribute financially or economically 3.Unanimous decisions were difficult to reach because of the self interest of each member state

The end of The League of Nations Without the world’s leading powers or a military force, the League had little clout to enforce its decisions On April 18, 1946, the League officially dissolved itself and transferred its mission and ideals to the United Nations

After the League of Nations The international community now operates through a wide-ranging system of organizations ▫Global – United Nations ▫Regional – NORAD ( North American Aerospace Defense System ) ▫Non-governmental – Free The Children

United Nations In 1945 representatives from 50 countries met in San Francisco to draft the Charter of the United Nations It was ratified by 51 original member states and the UN came into existence on October 24 th, 1945

Purpose of the UN To maintain international peace and security To develop friendly relations among nations To solve international problems To promote respect for human rights and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations

UN take on International Law The UN Charter also expresses the most fundamental norm of international law: ▫All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the UN

UN cont. The UN is not a world government It does not make laws It does provide a forum for the development of laws that generally find acceptance for resolving international conflicts All UN members (rich, poor, large, small) have a voice and a vote in this process

Make up of the UN The UN has 6 main organs. Five of them are based at the UN headquarters in New York ▫General Assembly ▫Security Council ▫The Secretariat ▫The Economic and Social Council ▫The Trusteeship Council The sixth organ is located at the Hague in the Netherlands ▫The International Court of Justice