1. The best hope of mankind? A brief history of the UN

The International Peace Conference in 1899 established the Permanent Court of Arbitration as the first medium for international disputes, but it was the League of Nations, established in 1919 after World War I, which formed the framework of the system of international organizations seen today. The United Nations was created to manage the world's transformation in the aftermath of World War II. ‘The best hope of mankind? A brief history of the UN’ shows how the UN has grown from the 51 nations that signed the UN Charter in 1945 to 193 nations in 2015. The UN's first seven decades have seen many challenges with a mixture of success and failure.

7. Reform and challenges: the future of the United Nations

The United Nations is structurally flawed and its operations are cumbersome. Despite being able to come up with excellent ideas, it often lacks the means of implementation. The UN is in need of reform, but reforming the system and obtaining world-wide international support are not new aims. ‘Reform and challenges: the future of the United Nations’ asks: how can this enormous institution that represents widely different interests from around the world be improved? How can its effectiveness be enhanced? In what ways can the UN's development policies be changed to improve the chances of success in the struggle against poverty? How can the UN safeguard both human security and human rights assertively?

6. Rights and responsibilities: human rights to human security

The protection of individual human rights is perhaps at the top of the UN's agenda. The task is not straightforward as the major violators of human rights tend to be states, and states make up the UN. ‘Rights and responsibilities: human rights to human security’ asks: is it more important to protect the integrity of a state or the individual? What about people rendered stateless by violent conflict, or ecological disaster, or people's rights to move within and between states? The answer is difficult because the state tends to reign supreme over the individual, but the UN is the only universally recognized body that can exert pressure on nations to modify their human rights behaviour.

5. Economic development to human development

One of the United Nation's central goals was to prevent economic upheaval and any resulting political consequences. ‘Economic development to human development’ explains that the aim was to head off economic collapse, war, and revolution with social democratic reforms and intergovernmental policy coordination. But how were these goals advanced? In the post-war era, the main issue was recovery. In the 1950s and 1960s it turned to decolonization and global inequality. Although international relations were guided by an East–West divide, the persistent North–South divide overshadowed the UN's efforts to reshape the global economy. Key goals of eradicating poverty and hunger, achieving universal education, empowering women, and fighting infant mortality remain today.

3. Facing wars, confronting threats: the UN Security Council in action

There has not been a World War III, so has the United Nations been successful? Alternatively, no day has gone by since 1945 without a military conflict somewhere around the world, so has the UN been unsuccessful? ‘Facing wars, confronting threats: the UN Security Council in action’ considers whether the existence and proliferation of nuclear weapons has acted as a deterrent against a direct military confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Security Council is not irrelevant, but it can only be effective when the five permanent members (China, France, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States) are in agreement. Despite this, the UN has been remarkably successful and active.

2. An impossible hybrid: the structure of the United Nations

‘An impossible hybrid: the structure of the United Nations’ explains the various functions of the conglomeration of organizations, divisions, bodies, and secretariats that make up the UN. The Security Council is the central organ of the UN system and has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The General Assembly is the forum where the 193 member states can make their cases heard. The UN Secretariat serves the other principal organs of the UN and administers the programs and policies laid down by them, with the Secretary-General at its head. The roles of the Economic and Social Council, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization are also described.

Introduction. We the peoples: the Promise of the United Nations

What was the purpose of the United Nations? First, it was to safeguard peace and security. Second, it was to restore faith in human rights. Third, it was to uphold respect for international law. Finally, the UN wanted to promote social progress and better standards of living. The Introduction asks: has the UN been able to achieve all, some, or any of these goals? The UN might not have quite lived up to the hopes of its founders, but it is the only truly global organization in history. The UN might be deeply flawed and in need of reform, but it is still needed.

4. Peacekeeping to peacebuilding

Peacekeeping is among the most visible roles of the United Nations. But how much do people trust in UN peacekeeping operations? ‘Peacekeeping to peacebuilding’ shows how the UN has struggled to live up to the expectations of its founders in this area. Between 1948 and 1988 the UNSC authorized only thirteen peacekeeping missions. In those years, a number of interstate and an increasing number of intrastate (or civil) wars took place. Cold War pressures explain, to some extent, this imperfect record. Today's more numerous peacekeeping activities are far more complex in nature than they used to be: keeping peace is more than just making and building peace.