As issues affecting the globe have increased, so has the role of the United Nations and the spotlight upon it.
Massive uprisings in the Middle East, swine and bird flu pandemics,
food shortages in Africa and South East Asia, devastating earthquakes
hitting Haiti and Japan, and all-out civil wars in the Ivory Coast and
Libya have displayed the broadening approach the UN has taken on the
global stage.
While recognizable as a unified body composed of almost every sovereign
state in the world, the bulk of the United Nation’s work is done
through specialized bodies independent of control from any single
country.
The World Health Organization (WHO), International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
are just some of the branch organizations of the UN that reach for a
global impact.
The UN was formed following World War II as a spiritual successor to
the League of Nations. Due to a lack of coordination and general
disagreement between the leaders of the major powers at the time, the
League of Nations became little more than a symbolic body. Fascism took
hold of a weakened Europe and a second war broke out.
Since its formation, the UN has been viewed as a … >>>