Lecture 1b: The United

Nations: Structure and

Organization – the UNSC
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 Key questions for this topic
• What is the United Nations? (UN)
• What are the aims of the UN?
• What are the key UN organs?
• How did the Cold War affect the functioning of
these organs (and by extension, the UN)?
 Outline of Lecture

1. The UNSC and its evolution due to

A) The Cold War
B) The change in the make-up of the UN as a
whole (expansion)
 The Security Council
Structure

Most powerful organization in the UN; Security Council resolutions meant to

be binding (see next slide)

Membership:
5 permanent members, 6 (then later, in
1965, 10) non-permanent members (2
year terms)

5 seats to Africa and Asia

2 seats to Latin America
2 seats to Western Europe
1 seat to Eastern Europe

Permanent members will have veto

powers
 The Security Council
Controversies

Roosevelt’s 4 policemen theory: US, UK, USSR and China

Why is France a permanent member?

Issue of China’s membership – People’s Republic of China or Republic of

China?

Cold War affected workings of UN

 Key terms and questions
• Veto power
• Permanent Five
• Make up of the UNSC before and after 1965
(implications?)
• Peacekeeping operations
 UN Charter (on the Security Council)
Article 24
• In order to ensure prompt and effective action by the United Nations, its
Members confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the
maintenance of international peace and security, and agree that in carrying
out its duties under this responsibility the Security Council acts on their behalf.
• In discharging these duties the Security Council shall act in accordance with the
Purposes and Principles of the United Nations. The specific powers granted to
the Security Council for the discharge of these duties are laid down in Chapters
VI, VII, VIII, and XII.
Article 25
• The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions
of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter.
Article 27
• Each member of the Security Council shall have one vote.
• Decisions of the Security Council shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine
members (out of 15) including the concurring votes of the permanent
members.
 The Phases of the Cold War

1947 – mid 1960s (post CMC) – The first Cold War

Mid-1960s – 1979 – Détente (thawing of tensions)

1979 – 1988 – The second Cold War

1989 – 1991 The Cold War started to come to an end

1991 onwards - Post-Cold War

 The Phases of the Cold War

1947 – mid 1960s (post CMC) – The first Cold War

Frequent deadlocks.
The US also used the UN for its own Cold War purposes, intervening
in the Korean War under the banner of the UN in order to score
political points (to show the world that communism was being drive
back by the UN rather than the US.)
The US introduced the UFP in 1950 (Korean war) to overcome this
deadlock, making use of its effective majority in the United Nations
General Assembly to get its way. The US moved power away from the
UNSC to the UNGA for its own Cold War aims.
 The Phases of the Cold War

1947 – mid 1960s (post CMC) – The first Cold War

Frequent deadlocks.
Between 1946 and 1955, USSR cast the most no. of vetoes in the first
10 years, making it often seemed to obstruct the work of the SC.
 How to measure UNSC cooperativeness?

Peacekeeping operations (we will explain that in a

later lecture). For now, accept that the presence of
peacekeeping missions meant that the UNSC was at
least cooperating as under UN Peacekeeping
operations, under normal circumstances, could only
be authorised by the UNSC and no other organ (note
that there were exceptions to this).
 The Phases of the Cold War

Mid-1960s – 1979 – Détente (thawing of tensions)

High point of cooperation between the two

superpowers meant that both the UNGA and UNSG
were side-lined.
Peacekeeping operations in the Middle East (UNEF
II and UNDOF) moved with unprecedented speed
due to this cooperation, with the UNSG being tasked
to handle the administrative details of the respective
peacekeeping forces.
 The Phases of the Cold War

Mid-1960s – 1979 – Détente (thawing of tensions)

In terms of the veto, by the 1960s to 1980s, the USA started

using the veto MORE often, due to the introduction of Third
World/Non-Aligned members, which were frequently anti-
US, in the SC.
 
At the same time, USSR started using the veto LESS due to
the corresponding period of détente or peaceful coexistence.
Due to the US vetoes, collective security issues were
sometimes diverted to the GA or the UN Secretary-General.
 The Phases of the Cold War

1979 – 1988 – The second Cold War

UNSC cooperation fell to an all time low. No UN

peacekeeping missions were initiated in this period.
 The Phases of the Cold War
1989 – 1991 The Cold War started to come to an end

The deadlock in the UNSC ended. Ties between the

superpowers were better due to Gorbachev.
Peacekeeping missions started to be sent out again.
Culminated in the intervention in the Gulf War of
1991 under the UN banner. No veto was cast in the
UNSC to prevent this from happening.
The then-UNSG was sent out as an errand boy to
Iraq to deliver the terms of withdrawal to Saddam
Hussein.
 The Phases of the Cold War

1991 onwards - Post-Cold War

For the first two years, after the Cold War, no vetos
were cast between 1991-93. There was a general
sense of euphoria that the UN could finally serve its
purpose since the Cold War had ended.
However, by the mid-1990s, the UNSC became
deadlocked again, with the West and Russia
disagreeing over conflict in the Balkans.
 Questions to consider
• How did the Cold War affect the fortunes of
the UNSC?
• Did the Cold War fatally affect the workings of
the UNSC, and by extension, the UN?
 A level exam questions
• To what extent did the Cold War restrict the
power of the Secretary General of the United
Nations from 1945 to 1990? (Sample Paper 2017)
• 'Change in the membership of the Security
Council made the UN more effective during the
Cold War era.' How far do you agree? (2018)
• How far did Soviet use of the veto in the Security
Council during the Cold War limit the power of
the United Nations? (2019)