United Nations (UN)

Overview:

The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945. It is currently made up of 193
Member States. The mission and work of the United Nations are guided by the purposes and principles
contained in its founding Charter.

Due to the powers vested in its Charter and its unique international character, the United Nations can
take action on the issues confronting humanity in the 21st century, such as peace and security, climate
change, sustainable development, human rights, disarmament, terrorism, humanitarian and health
emergencies, gender equality, governance, food production, and more. The UN also provides a forum
for its members to express their views in the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and
Social Council, and other bodies and committees. By enabling dialogue between its members, and by
hosting negotiations, the Organization has become a mechanism for governments to find areas of
agreement and solve problems together. 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Overview:

Formed in 1949 with the signing of the Washington Treaty, NATO is a security alliance of 30 countries
from North America and Europe. NATO’s fundamental goal is to safeguard the Allies’ freedom and
security by political and military means. NATO remains the principal security instrument of the
transatlantic community and expression of its common democratic values. It is the practical means
through which the security of North America and Europe are permanently tied together. NATO
enlargement has furthered the U.S. goal of a Europe whole, free, and at peace.

Article 5 of the Washington Treaty — that an attack against one Ally is an attack against all — is at the
core of the Alliance, a promise of collective defence. Article 4 of the treaty ensures consultations among
Allies on security matters of common interest, which have expanded from a narrowly defined Soviet
threat to the critical mission in Afghanistan, as well as peacekeeping in Kosovo and new threats to
security such as cyber-attacks, and global threats such as terrorism and piracy that affect the Alliance
and its global network of partners.

In addition to its traditional role in the territorial defence of Allied nations, NATO leads the UN-
mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and has on-going missions in the
Balkans and the Mediterranean; it also conducts extensive training exercises and offers security support
to partners around the globe, including the European Union in particular but also the United Nations
and the African Union.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

Overview:

The WTO is a government-to-government organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and is

composed of 153 member nations. The WTO was formed on 1 January 1995 as an outcome of the
Uruguay Round of multi-lateral trade talks.

The WTO is the only global organization that deals with the trading rules between nations. The
Organization gives the same rights to both small and large countries. Thus, if trade disputes occur
between member nations, these can be brought before the WTO.

The WTO accomplishes its work by negotiating trading rules between nations. The agreements that are
developed must be ratified by congresses or parliaments of the member nations. The ultimate goal of
the WTO is to help producers, exporters, and importers of goods and services and other forms of
intellectual property conduct their business; its overarching objective being to help trade to flow as
freely as possible, as long as there are no undesirable side effects. By having a set of trading rules, trade
becomes predictable.

If there is a trade dispute between member nations, the WTO provides a forum where member nations
can work out trade problems and settle trade disputes. The objective is to first negotiate a resolution to
the dispute. If a resolution cannot be achieved, the dispute can ultimately lead to trade sanctions, which
are allowed by the WTO. These trade sanctions cannot be punitive. They must not exceed the loss that
was presented in the formal dispute document.

The WTO's objective is to develop liberalized trade. Liberalized trade is not free trade. There are areas
where the WTO supports trade barriers. These include the need to protect consumers, or prevent the
spread of disease between humans, animals, or plants (SPS measures) and to allow certain technical
barriers to trade (TBT measures), such as labelling requirements.