UN as an IGO

• What is the primary role of the Security Council?

  Maintaining international peace and security
• How many permanent members does the Security Council have?

  Five permanent members
• How many rotating non-permanent members are there in the Security Council?

  Ten rotating non-permanent members
• What power do the permanent members of the Security Council have?

  Veto power
• What is one way the Security Council puts pressure on countries?

  Applying sanctions
• What does authorizing military force involve?

  Using military action against a country
• What is the purpose of a UN peacekeeping force?

  To maintain peace in conflict areas
• Name one of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

  Russia
• Which country is NOT a permanent member of the Security Council?

  Germany
• How are the ten rotating members of the Security Council selected?

  Voted for in their geographical regions
• What can conflicting ideas among permanent members lead to?

  Causing conflict within the council
• How long do rotating members serve on the Security Council?

  Two years at a time
• What is the Security Council essentially considered within the UN?

  The military arm of the UN
• Why is the organization of the Security Council often paralyzed?

  Big five focus on their own interests
• What is a consequence of the big five members bickering?

  Inability to address common global issues
• UN has 193 member states with headquarters in New York, USA
• UN states that only international co-operation can meet the challenges that the world faces and it operates by applying the principles of its Charter (signed at the founding of the UN).
• UN tries to maintain international peace and stability using the UN Security Council. It has 5 permanent members: Russia, USA, China, France and the UK with 10 rotational members on the Council.
• The UN does not have its own military and any peacekeeping forces under the UN banner are supplied by member states of the UN.
• The UN established the Geneva Convention which protects the right of prisoners.
• UN aims to protect human right by adopting the UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) as a standard.
• Un applies economic or diplomatic sanctions to countries to make them change their behaviour.
• The UN upholds international law through the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
• In both 2000 and 2015, the UN set targets (Millenium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals respectively) regarding tackling poverty, child and maternal morality, diseases and environmental concerns.
• The UN established the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), a scientific advisory panel, to inform debate on climate change.
• The IPCC has organised global conferences on how to tackle climate change e.g Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the COP21 in Paris in 2015.
• The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) seeks to protect vulnerable children globally.
• The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) supports people affected by conflict
• Sanctions designed to force countries to change their policy by enforcing economic or social pain
• Economic sanctions are restrictions on trade. Iran was put under economic sanctions whilst it was developing its nuclear capabilities.
• Cultural sanctions e.g refusing to let countries participate in sporting fixtures can be enforced. Another IGO, the IOC banned Russia from competing at the 2018 Olympics.
• The success of sanctions alone to create change has been limited.
• The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established at the Hague in the Netherlands to try individuals for crimes like genocide (attempts to destroy a racial or ethnic group)
• The trials at ICC are very slow. Radovan Karadzic is a Bosnian Serb who was accused of the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. He was found guilty but his trial lasted for 8 years.
• Un troops are supplied by member states and they wear distinctive blue helmets.
• UN troops have peace-keeping role and are not allowed to engage in any military action unless they are protecting themselves.
• At the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia, UN troops failed to help a group of Muslims who were then slaughtered by Karadzic's troops.
• 2018: UN peace-keeping troops stationed in Sudan, Kosovo, Haiti and Lebanon.
• As of November 2021, there were 12 UN peacekeeping missions globally.
• The UN High Commissioner for Refugees organises refugee camps in conflict zones. E.G, the UN helped set up the Zaatari camp in Jordan to shelter refugees and vulnerable people from further abuse.