The United Nations and The

Cold War

Alexandra Diana Chirita

- 2014-

Table of Contents:
I. Introduction................................................3
1.1United Nations.........................................3
1.2United Nations Purposes........................4
1.3The Security Council................................5
II. The UN during the Cold War.......................5
1.4UN peace operations...............................6
1.5UN - areas of progress.............................7
III.....................................................Conclusion
8
IV.................................................Bibliography:
10

I. Introduction
The concept of a community of nations whose main objective is to control conflicts
and contribute to promote peace between world states, was first mentioned by
Immanuel Kant in Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch. During the past, several
attempts to create such organizations were held. However, none of them envisioned a
continuously functioning body.
After the world has been shattered by the World War I, there was a need of an
organization to supervise the international relations between the states, therefore in the
Paris Peace Conference, that ended the war, in 1920, the League of Nations came
into being - the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain
world peace trough collective security and disarmament, and also deal with international
disputes using negotiation and arbitration.
The years between the first and second world wars were filled with a worldwide
instability due to numerous factors, as the Great Depression that began around 1930. It
was a time when some of the worlds biggest nations such as Germany, Italy or Japan
developed an intense desire to expand their territories. Although the League had some
successes during this period, it had also big weaknesses, so if a nation used force to
get what it wanted the League could do nothing, it did not have the ability to enforce its
decisions as it lacked an army.
Article 11 of the League's Covenant stated: "Any war or threat of war is a matter of
concern to the whole League and the League shall take action that may safe guard
peace."1 Therefore, any conflict between nations of the world, which ended in war and
the victory of one over the other is considered a failure of the League.
The League of Nations was unsuccessful in dealing with disputes adequately and in
some cases, like the conflict between Italy and Albania in 1923, favored larger nations
over smaller nations. Even when France invaded the Ruhr in that year, the League
revealed that its rules are easily breakable.

1.1United Nations
Considering the tense situation between the great powers of the world, this body
created to enhance international relations failed to fulfill its duties, therefore the World
War II began. Following this, it was only necessary to create a new world organization,
in order to efficiently prevent future conflicts, therefore in the summer of 1945, the
founders vowed to make the world a better place, so The United Nations Organization
was born.

1 The World Wars [ Online ]: http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/why-

did-the-league-of-nations-fail-to-maintain-world-peace-in-world-war-two57073/ (November 2014)

The United Nations is a universal, intergovernmental organization, founded with 51

members, after previous conferences and discussions, in order to facilitate international
cooperation between states. The body of the UN is based on some different aspects
compared to the League of Nations, but reflects the same basic philosophy of collective
security. The United Nations Charter placed more power in the hands of the five major
founding states, in order to achieve a better effectiveness, they have veto power and a
permanent representation in the Upper Chamber, The Security Council dealing with
matters of security. At first the Security Council had also six nonpermanent member
(and later ten nonpermanent members). Based according to the charter on "the
principle of the sovereign equality of all its members," all of which pledged themselves
to "refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the
territorial integrity or political independence of any state," the United Nations endowed
the Security Council with "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international
peace and security," charging other members with a duty to "accept and carry out the
decisions
of
the
Security
Council."2

1.2United Nations Purposes

The United Nations Organization is financed by voluntary contributions from its
member states.
Its purposes are:
- To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective
collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and
for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to
bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice
and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or
situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;
-

To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of
equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate
measures to strengthen universal peace;

To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an

economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and
encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all
without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and

To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these

common ends.3

2 Collective Security- The UN and the Cold War [Online]:

http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/A-D/Collective-Security-The-unitednations-and-the-cold-war.html#ixzz3KUDp2FtU (November 2014)

1.3The Security Council

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the principal bodies of the
United Nations constructed as an organ with primary responsibility for preserving
international peace and security. Is the only organ of the UN authorized to issue binding
resolution to its member states and is organized as a compact executive organ. The first
session of the Security Council was held on 17 January 1946.
The composition of the Security Council is:
- The Security Council shall consist of fifteen Members of the United Nations. The
Republic of China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America
shall be permanent members of the Security Council. The General Assembly
shall elect ten other Members of the United Nations to be non-permanent
members of the Security Council, due regard being specially paid, in the first
instance to the contribution of Members of the United Nations to the
maintenance of international peace and security and to the other purposes of the
Organization, and also to equitable geographical distribution.
- The non-permanent members of the Security Council shall be elected for a term
of two years. In the first election of the non-permanent members after the
increase of the membership of the Security Council from eleven to fifteen, two of
the four additional members shall be chosen for a term of one year. A retiring
member shall not be eligible for immediate re-election.
- Each member of the Security Council shall have one representative. 4

II. The UN during the Cold War

During the first stage of UN, all the UN members, especially the superpowers, tried
to use the organization to further their national interests. The USA was the most
successful, because of its dominance in international society. The UN was controlled
politically and financially by the US and its allies more strictly in the frst stage
compared to UN's whole history. The superpower rivalry prevented the creation of the
intended security machinery and reminded that the UN depended on the attitude of its
members and the international climate. But this did not prevent the UN from playing a
useful role in some disputes and the development of peacekeeping role, which
sometimes helped to enhance world peace.5
There was, both during the Second War II and after it, an extreme mistrust between
the sides. Right from the start, the mission of the UN to maintain peace in the world,
3 Charter of the UN - Chapter I [Online]:

http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter1.shtml (November 2014)

4 Charter of the UN Chapter V [online]:

http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter5.shtml (November 2014)

was somehow challenged, due to the post war conflicts, between the Soviet Union- who
had a very large army in the field, USA- who had the most powerful weapon in the world
(the A-bomb) and of course, their allies.
The Cold War was a confrontation, which became global between the Soviet Union and
Western Systems. In all sectors of relations - military, diplomatic, economic, ideological there was conflict, but an open war as always avoided between the major protagonists.
There were however several extremely dangerous crises and a number of wars
between their proxies. We can call it a war between communism and capitalism, the two
rival ideologies.
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. the ambassador to the United Nations from 1953 to 1960
recognized the fundamental limits of an organization that, at least in theory, aims to
represents the interests of the entire world. As Lodge said in 1945: This organization is
created to prevent you from going to hell. It is not created to take you to heaven6
Although we should keep in mind that UN is not an military organization, there is still, a
discrepancy between the ambitions and the capacities of the United Nations.
The main problem of the UN, as an overseer of the international security, is how to deal
with conflicts, between or within states without affecting/offending the national
sovereignty of those states.
In order to avoid what happened during the World War II, a structure, designed to deal
with possible threats to the international security, was created. Its underlining was to
develop military actions, and the possibility to have immediate access to military forces.
The UN Charter granted the veto right to the five permanent member (China, France,
Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States), therefore The Charter allowed to
this group to prevent actions unsuitable with their own national interests. Thus, the UN
had a positive role in preventing the start of another world war, it failed to avoid a series
of regional conflicts (From Korea and Vietnam to the Middle East and Africa).

1.4UN peace operations

The Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat to the peace,
breach of the peace, or act of aggression and shall make recommendations, or decide
what measures shall be taken in accordance with Articles 41 and 42, to maintain or
restore international peace and security.7
5David

Amsrtrons, Lorna Loyd and John Redmond, From Versailles

toMaastricht, London: Mc Millan Press, 1996

6 The United Nations: A Very Short Introduction Jussi M. Hanhimaki

7 Charter of the UN Chapter VII [Online]:

http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter7.shtml (November 2014)

The UN started to conduct peacekeeping missions shortly after its

eshtablishment, the process began with unarmed observers and then evolved into
actions that had either military observation of ceasefires or interposition between hostile
forces (or a mixture between the two). The leading concept for peacekeeping
interventions was based on three key principles of consent, impartiality, and use of force
only in self-defence.
The United Nations established several peacekeeping operations during the cold
war, most of them to observe and supervise ceasefires and ceasing of hostilities, to
oversee and provide security and administrative support, to restore peace and stability.
The most important of this operations are: UNTSO Israeli border/Palestine (1948),
observation and peacekeeping operations, UNMOGIP India/Pakistan ceasefire line in
Kashmir (1949), UNEF Suez Canal/Sinai peninsula (1956), the first UN peacekeeping
force, UNOGIL Lebanese/Syrian border (1958), ONUC: Operations des Nations
Unies au Congo Republic of Congo(previous Belgian Congo), supervising the
withdrawal of Belgian forces, provide stability and ensure territorial integrity (19601964), by far the biggest most complex UN peace operation, UNTEA/UNSF Dutch
New Guinea/Indonesian Province of Irian Jaya (1962), UNYOM Yemen (1963),
UNFICYP Cyprus (1964), to prevent fighting between Greek and Turkish Cypriot
communities, UNAVEM Angola (1989), to supervise withdrawal of Cuban forces from
Angola as part of linked agreement for the independence of Namibia from South Africa.
One of the first missions of the UN, took place in Korea, which at that time was
divided between Soviet forces in the North and US forces in the South. In 1950 North
Korean forces attacked the South backed by the communist states, the US decided that
this Communist attack on a non-Communist state called for action. The US was
determined to counter the Communist threat, so the situation from Korea was brought
up in the Security Council.
The UN resolution on Korea provided international legitimacy to US actions. This was a
controversial operation, some called the UNs role in Korea a unique phenomenon,
although the plans seemed to be made by the UN, it seems that everything was decided
in Washington, it may be argued that, in order to reach an end, the UN was used to
provide the international legal framework.
The United Nations Organizations action in the Congo crisis led almost to
bankruptcy, when several countries refused to pay for the mission not approved by the
Security Council. The UN troops, faced social and political chaos, and engaged direct
military action in order to force Katanga province to reintegrate with Congo. The
Secretary General was mysteriously killed in a plane crush. This action and also the
peacekeeping forces sent in Cyprus demonstrate the UN willingness to intervene in
internal situation to restore order.

1.5UN - areas of progress

The UN made some important achievements in other fields. One of the most
successful areas was the decolonization, supported by both superpowers, in order to
reduce the power of the colonial empires.

This process of creating new countries, some of which had strategic positions or
possessed significant natural resources, changed the composition of the United
Nations. The new independent nations that emerged in the 1950s and the 1960s soon
became an important factor influencing the balance of power within the UN. The
organization began to counter the colonialism, racial discrimination and the gap
between North and South.
As a result, since the early 1970, UN started activities in the development of less
developed countries. The UN and its related organization have had an important impact
in disease control, aid to refugees, and technical assistance. In addition, important UNs
specialized agencies such as UNICEF, UNESCO and The World Food Programme were
set up and they accomplished significant results in their fields of expertise.
Another important goal of the United Nations during the cold war was to
highlight the importance of human rights and respect for the international law 8. The
organization adopted an active role in setting standards on human dignity and freedom
trough the approval of important declarations and conventions; the most important
document concerning this matter was undoubtedly, The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, drafted in 1948, include the whole spectrum of human rights: cultural, social,
economic, civil and political. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) represents the worlds commitment to universal ideals of human dignity.
They have a unique mandate from the international community to promote and protect
all human rights.9
Finally, the superpowers had the tendency to deal with each other and different
matter, outside the framework of the UN. Considering that the organization was at its
very beginning during the Cold War, we can say that it had a secondary role in most
world crisis, such as the Arab-Israeli wars, the India-Pakistan war or the Vietnam War.
Still, while the Cold War has reached an end, the United Nations continue its
peacekeeping operations already started in the previous years in the affected areas of
the world.

III. Conclusion
The United Nations Organization was born from a collective need for international
peace and security. Since its establishment more than six decades ago, the UN has
played an important role in the peaceful settlement of armed conflicts all around the
world. The results and the actions of the organization have increased during the years
8 The United Nations: A Very Short Introduction Jussi M. Hanhimaki [Online]:

https://play.google.com/books/reader?
id=doXq8kyVJjcC&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=ro&pg=GBS.PA2.
w.1.1.75.0.2 (November 2014)
9 Elsa: UN Human Rights Bodies [online]: http://elsa.org/page/un-human-

rights-bodies/ (November 2014)

of its development. In its early years the UN looked to be a stronger organization than
the League of Nations. It had a constant role as a buffer between the two superpowers.
The UN had some success in its first years with peacekeeping operations developed in
conflict areas, but its relationship with US was challenging due to the fact that America
provided 25% of its annual budget and expected to have a considerably saying in the
final decisions of the UN.
Once the war was over and the Soviet Union disintegrate, the suspicion and the
hostilities between the 2 superpowers were reduced. This gave a boost to the UNs role
in the field of international security and peace.
Did the UN achieved its original goal or not is questionable, but it had a positive impact
on the world and it had a significant role on managing relations between the
superpowers during the Cold War.
Nowadays the UN is a universal institution, its peacekeeping forces were
awarded with the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1998, with 193 member states, the UN
covers the whole world.
The UN is a complex organization, in a continuous development in different areas. Even
though maintaining global peace and security proved to be a challenge, it is however
possible to make small steps in order to, slowly but surely make this world a better
place.

IV.

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