United Nations Day

The twentieth century has been a time of great progression and changes within the international political sphere.  An age that saw the horrors of World War I and Word War II, the global population has reached an understanding that the fractious and divisive rivalries between nation-states of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century should be avoided.  Although things are no way perfect, the nature of international politics seem to be have to a brighter outlook at the beginning of the twenty-first century compared to the beginning of the twentieth century.

A major reason for this rosier outlook is the interdependence between nation-states around the world.  Although globalization has become a buzz word over the last couple of years, the truth of the matter is that global relationships between nation states have been pursued over the last couple of decades.  A major force between this internationalist outlook has been the political institution, the United Nations.  The United Nations grew from the end of World War Two and rose from the failure of its predecessor, the League of Nations.  With a total number of 191 member states, the United Nations is a major force on international politics.  Although the United Nations isn’t a perfect organization, the world (particularly developing nations) are far better off with the United Nations than without the United Nations.

The purpose of the formation of the United Nation was to ”set up an organization which would preserve peace, advance justice, and constitute a permanent structure for international cooperation.”  An organization that has many agencies like UNICEF (International Children’s Emergency Fund), UNESCO (U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), and WHO (World Health Organization) committed to fighting against disease, famine, malnutrition, and environmental degradation, the presence of the United Nations will hopefully contribute to a better future for later generations.