Characterized by unity; being or joined into a single entity

Množina: United Arab Emirate dirhams

The basic unit of money in the United Arab Emirates; equal to 1,000 fils; Also called: dirham.

Množina: United Arab Emirate monetary units

Monetary unit in the United Arab Emirates.

Singular of United Arab Emirates is United Arab Emirate.

Federation in SW Asia, on the Arabian Gulf, bounded NW by Qatar, SW by Saudi Arabia, and SE by Oman.
government
A provisional constitution has been in effect since Dec 1971. The drawing-up of a permanent constitution has been deferred four times, the last occasion being in 1991. The provisional constitution provides a federal structure for a union of seven sheikdoms. The highest authority is the Supreme Council of Rulers, which includes all seven sheiks. Each is a hereditary emir and an absolute monarch in his own country. The council elects two of its members to be president and vice president of the federal state for a five-year term. The president then appoints a prime minister and council of ministers.
There is a federal national council of 40 members appointed by the emirates for a two-year term, and this operates as a consultative assembly. There are no political parties.
history
For early history, see Arabia. In 1952 the seven sheikdoms of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al Qaiwain set up, on British advice, the Trucial Council, consisting of all seven rulers, with a view to eventually establishing a federation. In the 1960s the Trucial States, as they were known, became extremely wealthy through the exploitation of oil deposits.
The whole area was under British protection, but in 1968 the British government announced that it was withdrawing its forces within three years. The seven Trucial States, with Bahrain and Qatar, formed the Federation of Arab Emirates, which was intended to become a federal state, but in 1971 Bahrain and Qatar seceded to become independent nations. Six of the Trucial States then combined to form the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The remaining sheikdom, Ras al Khaimah, joined Feb 1972. Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, became the first president.
In 1976 Sheik Zayed, disappointed with the slow progress toward centralization, was persuaded to accept another term as president only with assurances that the federal government would be given more control over such activities as defense and internal security. In recent years the UAE has played an increasingly prominent role in Middle East affairs, and in 1985 it established diplomatic and economic links with the USSR and China.
In 1990–91, the UAE opposed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and contributed troops and economic support to the UN coalition that defeated Iraq in the Gulf War. The international financial scandal surrounding the 1991 collapse of the Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI) had serious implications for the UAE because Abu Dhabi's ruler held a controlling interest in the bank. In 1994 the Abu Dhabi government agreed to pay a sum amounting to $1.8 billion to creditors and depositors of the former BCCI.
During 1992 the UAE became embroiled in a border dispute with Iran.
A federation of 7 Arab emirates; rich in oil reserves.

Množina: United Arab Republics

Union formed 1958, broken 1961, between Egypt and Syria. Egypt continued to use the name after the breach up until 1971.
1. former union of Egypt and Syria (1958-61).
2. Egypt — a former name (1961-71).

Množina: United Artists

(UA) Hollywood film production, releasing, and distribution company formed 1919 by silent-screen stars Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, and director D W Griffith, in order to take control of their artistic and financial affairs.
The company nearly collapsed after the box-office disaster of Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate 1980, and UA was subsequently bought by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Množina: United Australia parties

Australian political party formed by Joseph Lyons 1931 from the right-wing Nationalist Party. It was led by Robert Menzies after the death of Lyons. Considered to have become too dominated by financial interests, it lost heavily to the Labor Party 1943, and was reorganized as the Liberal Party 1944.

Množina: United Church of Christs

Merger of the Congregational Christian Church and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.

Množina: United Democratic Fronts

Moderate multiracial political organization in South Africa, founded 1983. It was an important focus of anti apartheid action in South Africa until 1989, when the African National Congress and Pan-Africanist Congress were unbanned.

Množina: United Irishmens

Society formed 1791 by Wolfe Tone to campaign for parliamentary reform in Ireland. It later became a secret revolutionary group.
Inspired by the republican ideals of the French Revolution, the United Irishmen was initially a debating society, calling for reforms such as the right of Catholics to vote in Irish elections, but after an attempt to suppress it in 1793, the organization became secret, looking to France for military aid. An attempted insurrection 1798 was quickly defeated and the leaders captured.

Množina: United Kingdoms

A kingdom divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; Also called: UK, Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
(UK) Country in NW Europe off the coast of France, consisting of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
government
The UK is a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary government. There is no written constitution. Cabinet government, which is at the heart of the system, is founded on rigid convention, and the relationship between the monarch as head of state and the prime minister as head of government is similarly based. Parliament is sovereign, in that it is free to make and unmake any laws that it chooses, and the government is subject to the laws that Parliament makes, as interpreted by the courts.
Parliament has two legislative and debating chambers, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords has three main kinds of members: those who are there by accident of birth, the hereditary peers; those who are there because of some office they hold; and those who are appointed to serve for life, the life peers. There are nearly 800 hereditary peers. Among those sitting by virtue of their position are 2 archbishops and 24 bishops of the Church of England and 9 senior judges, known as the law lords. The appointed life peers include about 65 women, or peeresses. The House of Commons has 650 members, elected by universal adult suffrage from single-member geographical constituencies, each constituency containing, on average, about 65,000 electors.
Although the House of Lords is termed the upper house, its powers, in relation to those of the Commons, have been steadily reduced so that now it has no control over financial legislation and merely a delaying power, of a year, over other bills. Before an act of Parliament becomes law it must pass through a five-stage process in each chamber—first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, and third reading— and then receive the formal royal assent. Bills, other than financial ones, can be introduced in either house, but most begin in the Commons.
The monarch appoints as prime minister the leader of the party with most support in the House of Commons, and he or she, in turn, chooses and presides over a cabinet. The voting system, which does not include any form of proportional representation, favors two-party politics, and both chambers of Parliament are physically designed to accommodate two parties, the ruling party sitting on one side of the presiding Speaker and the opposition on the other. The party with the second largest number of seats in the Commons is recognized as the official opposition, and its leader is paid a salary out of public funds and provided with an office within the Palace of Westminster, as the Houses of Parliament are called.
history
For early history, see Britain, ancient; England: history; Scotland: history; Wales: history; Ireland: history. The term “United Kingdom” became official 1801, but was in use from 1707, when the Act of Union combined Scotland and England into the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Cabinet government developed under Robert Walpole, in practice the first prime minister (1721–42). Two Jacobite rebellions sought to restore the Stuarts to the throne until the Battle of Culloden 1746, after which the Scottish Highlanders were brutally suppressed. The American colonies that became the US were lost in the American Revolution.
The Act of Ireland 1801 united Britain and Ireland. This was the time of the Industrial Revolution, the mechanization of production that shifted the balance of political power from the landowner to the industrial capitalist and created an exploited urban working class. In protest, the Luddites destroyed machinery.
Agricultural enclosures drove small farmers off the land. The alliance of the industrialists with the Whigs produced a new party, the Liberals, with an ideology of free trade and nonintervention in economic affairs. In 1832 they carried a Reform Bill transferring political power from the aristocracy to the middle classes and for the next 40 years the Liberal Party was a major force.
The working classes, who had no vote, created their own organizations in the labor unions and Chartism; their attempts to seek parliamentary reform were brutally suppressed (at the Peterloo massacre 1819). The Conservative prime minister Robert Peel introduced a number of domestic reforms, including the repeal of the Corn Laws 1846.
After 1875 the UK's industrial monopoly was challenged by Germany and the US. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservatives under Disraeli launched the UK on a career of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, and elsewhere. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions.
World War I and the Depression
The domestic issues after 1900 were social reform and home rule for Ireland; the Labour Party emerged from an alliance of labor unions and small socialist bodies 1900; the suffragists were active until World War I. After the war a wave of strikes culminated in the general strike 1926; three years later a world economic crisis precipitated the Depression that marked the 1930s and brought to power a coalition government 1931.
The following years were dominated by unemployment, which reached almost 3 million in 1933. The death of George V Jan 1936 brought Edward VIII to the throne, closely followed by the abdication crisis precipitated by his desire to marry US divorcee Wallis Simpson. In Dec 1936, Edward VIII abdicated, and George VI came to the throne.
World War II
In 1939 Germany invaded Poland, and Britain entered World War II by declaring war on Germany. In 1940 Winston Churchill became prime minister, leader of the Conservative Party, and head of a coalition government. The country sustained intensive bombardment in the “Battle of Britain” July–Oct 1940, and the Blitz of night bombing which affected especially London and Coventry. After the defeat of Germany 1945, the Labour Party, led by Clement Attlee, gained power.
reform and renewal
In 1945 the UK was still nominally at the head of an empire that covered a quarter of the world's surface and included a quarter of its population, and, although two world wars had gravely weakened it, many of its citizens and some of its politicians still saw it as a world power. The reality of its position soon became apparent when the newly elected Labour government confronted the problems of rebuilding the war-damaged economy. This renewal was greatly helped, as in other W European countries, by support from the US through the Marshall Plan. Between 1945 and 1951 the Labour government carried out an ambitious program of public ownership and investment and laid the foundations of a national health service and welfare state. During the same period the dismemberment of the British Empire, restyled the British Commonwealth, was begun, a process that was to continue into the 1980s.
Suez Crisis
When in 1951 the Conservative Party was returned to power, under Winston Churchill, the essential features of the welfare state and the public sector were retained. In 1955 Churchill, in his 81st year, was succeeded by the foreign secretary, Anthony Eden. In 1956 Eden found himself confronted by the takeover of the Suez Canal by the president of Egypt, Gamal Nasser. Eden's perception of the threat posed by Nasser was not shared by everyone, even within the Conservative Party. The British invasion of Egypt, in conjunction with France and Israel, brought widespread criticism and was abandoned in the face of pressure from the US and the United Nations. Eden resigned, and the Conservatives chose Harold Macmillan as their new leader and prime minister.
Supermac
The Conservatives won the 1959 general election with an increased majority. By the early 1960s, the economy had improved, living standards had risen, and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was known as “Supermac”. Internationally, he established working relationships with the US presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy. He also did much for the Commonwealth, but was sufficiently realistic to see that the UK’s long-term economic and political future lay in Europe. The framework for the European Economic Community (EEC) had been created by the mid-1950s, with the UK an onlooker rather than a participant, and in 1961 the first serious attempt was made to join the EEC, only to have it blocked by the French president, Charles de Gaulle.
poor economic performance
Despite rising living standards, the UK's economic performance was not as successful as that of many of its competitors, such as West Germany and Japan. There was a growing awareness that there was insufficient investment in industry, that young talent was going into the professions or financial institutions rather than manufacturing, and that training was poorly planned and inadequately funded. It was against this background that Macmillan unexpectedly resigned 1963, on the grounds of ill health, and was succeeded by the foreign secretary, Lord Home, who immediately renounced his title to become Alec Douglas-Home.
Wilson government
In the general election 1964 the Labour Party won a slender majority and its leader, Harold Wilson, became prime minister. The election had been fought on the issue of the economy. Wilson created the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) to challenge the short-term conservatism of the Treasury, and brought in a leading labor unionist to head a new Department of Technology. In an early general election 1966 Wilson increased his Commons majority, but his promises of fundamental changes in economic planning, industrial investment, and improved work practices were not fulfilled. The DEA was disbanded 1969 and an ambitious plan for the reform of industrial relations was dropped in the face of labor-union opposition.
Heath’s “counter-revolution”
In 1970 the Conservatives returned to power under Edward Heath. He, too, saw institutional change as one way of achieving industrial reform and created two new central departments (Trade and Industry, Environment) and a think tank to advise the government on long-term strategy, the Central Policy Review Staff. He attempted to change the climate of industrial relations through a long and complicated Industrial Relations Bill. He saw entry into the EEC as the “cold shower of competition” that industry needed, and membership was negotiated 1972.
miners’ strike
Heath’s “counter-revolution”, as he saw it, was frustrated by the labor unions, and the sharp rise in oil prices 1973 forced a U-turn in economic policy. Instead of abandoning “lame ducks” to their fate, he found it necessary to take ailing industrial companies, such as Rolls-Royce, into public ownership. The introduction of a statutory incomes policy precipitated a national miners’ strike in the winter of 1973–74 and Heath decided to challenge the unions by holding an early general election 1974. The result was a hung Parliament, with Labour winning the biggest number of seats but no single party having an overall majority. Heath tried briefly to form a coalition with the Liberals and, when this failed, resigned.
Wilson’s “social contract”
Harold Wilson returned to the premiership, heading a minority government, but in another general election later the same year won enough additional seats to give him a working majority. He had taken over a damaged economy and a nation puzzled and divided by the events of the previous years. He turned to Labour’s natural ally and founder, the labor-union movement, for support and jointly they agreed on a “social contract”: the government pledged itself to redress the imbalance between management and unions created by the Heath industrial-relations legislation, and the unions promised to cooperate in a voluntary industrial and incomes policy. Wilson met criticism from a growing left-wing movement within his party, impatient for radical change. In March 1976 Wilson, apparently tired and disillusioned, retired in midterm.
financial crisis
Wilson was succeeded by the political veteran James Callaghan. In the other two parties, Heath had unexpectedly been ousted by Margaret Thatcher, and the Liberal Party leader, Jeremy Thorpe, had resigned after a personal scandal and been succeeded by the young Scottish MP David Steel. Callaghan was now leading a divided party and a government with a dwindling parliamentary majority. Later in 1976 an unexpected financial crisis arose from a drop in confidence in the overseas exchange markets, a rapidly falling pound, and a drain on the country's foreign reserves. After considerable debate within the cabinet, both before and afterwards, it was decided to seek help from the International Monetary Fund and submit to its stringent economic policies. Within weeks the crisis was over and within months the economy was showing clear signs of improvement.
Lib–Lab Pact
In 1977, to shore up his slender parliamentary majority, Callaghan entered into an agreement with the new leader of the Liberal Party, David Steel. Under the “Lib–Lab Pact” Labour pursued moderate, nonconfrontational policies in consultation with the Liberals, who, in turn, voted with the government, and the economy improved dramatically. The Lib–Lab Pact had effectively finished by the autumn of 1978, and soon the social contract with the unions began to disintegrate. Widespread and damaging strikes in the public sector badly affected essential services during what became known as the “winter of discontent”. At the end of March 1979 Callaghan lost a vote of confidence in the House of Commons and was forced into a general election.
Conservatives under Thatcher
The Conservatives returned to power under the UK's first woman prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. She inherited a number of inflationary public-sector pay awards that, together with a budget that doubled the rate of value-added tax, resulted in a sharp rise in prices and interest rates. The Conservatives were pledged to reduce inflation and did so by mainly monetarist policies, which caused the number of unemployed to rise from 1.3 million to 2 million in the first year. Thatcher had experience in only one government department, and it was nearly two years before she made any major changes to the cabinet she inherited from Heath. In foreign affairs Zimbabwe became independent 1980 after many years, and without the bloodshed many had feared.
creation of SDP
Meanwhile, changes were taking place in the other parties. Callaghan resigned the leadership of the Labour Party 1980 and was replaced by the left-winger Michael Foot, and early in 1981 three Labour shadow-cabinet members, David Owen, Shirley Williams, and William Rodgers, with the former deputy leader Roy Jenkins (collectively dubbed the “Gang of Four”), broke away to form a new centrist group, the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The new party made an early impression, winning a series of by-elections within months of its creation. From 1983 to 1988 the Liberals and the SDP were linked in an electoral pact, the Alliance. They advocated the introduction of a system of proportional representation, which would ensure a fairer parity between votes gained and seats won.
Falklands War
Unemployment continued to rise, passing the 3-million mark Jan 1982, and the Conservatives and their leader received low ratings in the public-opinion polls. An unforeseen event rescued them: the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina. Thatcher's decision to send a battle fleet to recover the islands paid off. The general election 1983 was fought with the euphoria of the Falklands victory still in the air and the Labour Party, under its new leader, divided and unconvincing. The Conservatives had a landslide victory, winning more Commons seats than any party since 1945, although with less than half the popular vote. Thatcher was able to establish her position firmly, replacing most of her original cabinet.domestic problems
The next three years were marked by rising unemployment and growing dissent: a dispute at the government's main intelligence-gathering station, GCHQ; a bitter and protracted miners' strike; increasing violence in Northern Ireland; an attempted assassination of leading members of the Conservative Party during their annual conference; and riots in inner-city areas of London, Bristol, and Liverpool. The government was further embarrassed by its own prosecutions under the Official Secrets Act and the resignations of two prominent cabinet ministers. With the short-term profits from North Sea oil and an ambitious privatization program, the inflation rate continued to fall and by the winter of 1986–87 the economy was buoyant enough to allow the chancellor of the Exchequer to arrange a preelection spending and credit boom.
party leadership changes
Leadership changes took place by 1987 in two of the other parties. Michael Foot was replaced by his Welsh protégé Neil Kinnock; Roy Jenkins was replaced by David Owen as SDP leader, to be succeeded in turn by Robert MacLennan Sept 1987, when the SDP and Liberal parties voted to initiate talks toward a merger.
Despite high unemployment and Thatcher's increasingly authoritarian style of government, the Conservatives were reelected June 1987.
The merger of the Liberal and Social Democratic parties was an acrimonious affair, with the SDP, led by David Owen, refusing to join the merged party and operating as a rival group. Paddy Ashdown emerged as the leader of the new party.
In a cabinet reshuffle July 1989, Geoffrey Howe was replaced as foreign secretary by John Major. In Oct 1989 the chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson, resigned because of disagreements with the prime minister, and Major replaced him.
Douglas Hurd took over the foreign office. The government was widely criticized for its decisions forcibly to repatriate Vietnamese “boat people” and to give right of abode in the UK to the families of 50,000 “key” Hong Kong citizens after the transfer of the colony to China 1997. David Owen announced that the SDP would no longer be able to fight in all national constituencies and would only operate as a “guerrilla force”. The Green Party polled 2 million votes in the European elections.
Thatcher challenged
In Sept 1990 the House of Commons was recalled for an emergency debate that endorsed the government's military activities in the Persian Gulf. In Oct the government announced that it was joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). In Nov the deputy prime minister, Geoffrey Howe, gave a dramatic resignation speech, strongly critical of Thatcher. Michael Heseltine then announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Having failed to gain a clear victory in the first ballot of the leadership election, Thatcher was persuaded by her colleagues to withdraw from the contest. In the subsequent second ballot Michael Heseltine (131 votes) and Douglas Hurd (56) conceded that John Major (185) had won. He consequently became party leader and prime minister.
Major’s leadership
Major was initially popular for his consensual style of leadership, but dissatisfaction with the poll tax continued and was seen as the main cause of a 25% swing away from the Conservatives in a March 1991 by-election. A hastily constructed replacement of the poll tax did little to repair the damage done to the Conservative Party, which sustained heavy losses in the May 1991 local elections. The deterioration of the National Health Service was also an issue. Despite the apparent waning popularity of the Conservative government and almost two years of economic recession, the party won its fourth consecutive victory in the April 1992 general election, with a reduced majority. Neil Kinnock announced his resignation as leader of the Labour Party and Roy Hattersley resigned as deputy. John Smith was elected as the new Labour leader July 1992.
recession deepens
With a deepening recession and international pressure on the pound, the government was forced to devalue Sept 1992 and leave the ERM. Further criticism in Oct forced it to review its economic strategy and, in the same month, Trade and Industry Secretary Michael Heseltine announced a drastic pit-closure program, involving the closure of 32 collieries and the loss of 30,000 miners' jobs. The announcement initially met with massive public opposition, but the closure program eventually went ahead.
Conservatives lose ground
In Nov 1992, the government won a narrow majority (3) in a “paving debate” on ratification of the Maastricht Treaty on closer European economic and political union. The vote went in favor of the government motion because of the support of the Liberal Democrats. In May 1993 the Conservatives lost a key seat to the Liberal Democrats in a by-election. Norman Lamont, who was largely blamed for the 1992 ERM fiasco, was subsequently replaced as chancellor of the Exchequer by Home Secretary Kenneth Clarke, but this failed to prevent a second Conservative by-election defeat in July. In the same month the Maastricht Treaty was finally ratified by parliament.
In Dec 1993 Prime Minister John Major and Irish premier Albert Reynolds issued a joint peace proposal on Northern Ireland, the Downing Street Declaration, which offered all-party constitutional talks in return for a cessation of violence.
the sleaze factor
During the Conservative Party was plagued by a series of personal scandals, further eroding public confidence and undermining the party’s Back to Basics campaign for a return to traditional family values. Revelations of British arms sales to Iraq prior to the 1991 Gulf War and the alleged complicity of senior Conservative figures, including John Major, further embarrassed the government, as did reports that certain Conservative MPs, including junior ministers, had been paid by clients to ask helpful parliamentary questions. Responding to public concern, Prime Minister John Major announced the setting up of a committee “to oversee standards in public life”.
the European dimension
In March 1994, the government’s failure to retain the full extent of the UK’s blocking vote in negotiations held on wider European union enraged Conservative “Euro-skeptics”, leading to calls for Major to resign or call a general election. Later in the year there was further opposition to the proposed UK contribution to the budget of the European Union (formerly the European Community), forcing Major to threaten to seek a dissolution of parliament if the “Euro-skeptics” in his party failed to come into line.
new Labour leader
Liberal Democrats made substantial gains in the May 1994 local elections and in the same month Labour leader John Smith died. Tony Blair, young and articulate, with a clear view of the direction he wished the party to follow, emerged as the new leader after the first fully democratic election for the post. The impact of Blair's election was instantaneous, his party's popularity rating immediately soaring. Meanwhile, the Conservatives were recovering from further substantial loses in the June European elections.
Anglo-Irish success
In Aug 1994 Major, in a dual initiative with Irish premier Albert Reynolds, secured a cease-fire by the Irish Provisional Army (IRA) in Northern Ireland, as an initial step toward a negotiated peace process. Prospects for lasting peace improved when, in Oct, the Protestant Loyalist paramilitaries announced that they, too, would end their campaign of violence as long as the IRA cease-fire held.
In the April 1995 Scottish local elections, the Conservatives failed to win a single seat.

Množina: United Kingdom Infrared Telescopes

(UKIRT) 3.8-m/150-in reflecting telescope for observing at infrared wavelengths, opened in 1978 on Mauna Kea and operated by the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh.

Množina: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irelands

Množina: United Methodist churches

Union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren.

Singular of United Nations is United Nation.

(un) Association of states for international peace, security, and cooperation, with its headquarters in New York. The un was established 1945 as a successor to the League of Nations, and has played a role in many areas, such as refugees, development assistance, disaster relief, and cultural cooperation. Its membership in 1994 stood at 184 states, and the total proposed budget for 1994–95 (raised by the member states) was $2,468 million. Boutros Boutros-Ghali became secretary-general 1992. There are six official working languages: English, French, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic.
The principal institutions are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, all based in New York; and the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. There are many specialized agencies, involved either in promoting communication between states (such as the International Telecommunication Union, itu), or concerned with welfare of states, such as the World Health Organization (who), the un Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (unESCO), and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank). Much of the work of the specialized welfare agencies concerns the developing countries, and consists mainly of research and field work. However, they also provide international standards relevant to all countries in their respective fields.
Though autonomous, the specialized agencies are related to the United Nations by special arrangements and work with the un and each other through the coordinating machinery of the Economic and Social Council.
The us regularly (often alone or nearly so) votes against General Assembly resolutions on aggression, international law, human-rights abuses, and disarmament, and has exercised its veto on the Security Council more times than any other member (the uk is second, France a distant third). The un has always suffered from a lack of adequate and independent funds and forces.
Principal institutions
The General Assembly
One member from each of the 184 member states who meet annually for a session usually lasting from late Sept to the end of the year; it can be summoned at any time for an emergency session. All members of the un have equal status in the Assembly, each state having one vote. Important decisions, such as the condemnation of an act by one of its members, are taken by a two-thirds majority while others require a simple majority.
The General Assembly was originally intended to be merely a deliberative body. Pressures from the smaller states at the time of its establishment ensured it of a larger rôle. Although its decisions have no mandatory status and are only recommendations, it may discuss any subject and make recommendations on it to the Security Council or a member state. It may also call the attention of the Security Council to situations likely to endanger the peace. It initiates studies and makes recommendations designed to further political cooperation, legal development, economic and social cooperation, and the achievement of human rights. It elects the nonpermanent members of the Security Council and supervises the activities, as well as electing the members, of the Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council. Together with the Security Council it elects members of the International Court of Justice. It also controls un finances, approves the budget, and decides what contributions member states shall make. To date seven Special Sessions have been held to discuss particular issues.
The Security Council
The most powerful body of the un, the Security Council is responsible for maintaining international peace and security, and acts on behalf of un member states in carrying out its duties. It has five permanent members—the us, Russia, the uk, France, and China— plus ten rotating members (six until 1965), which serve for two years each. Decisions must be agreed by nine members (seven until 1965) including, except on procedural matters, the permanent members. Any permanent member can therefore veto a decision, although an abstention is not counted as a veto.
Five of the ten temporary members are elected each year by the General Assembly for a two-year term; retiring members are not eligible for reelection. At any one time the ten rotating members must comprise five countries from Africa and Asia, two from Latin America, one from E Europe, and two from W Europe. Member states undertake to accept and carry out its decisions in accordance with the Charter. The Council can be called into session at any time, and a representative of each of its member states is present at all times at un Headquarters.
Any un member may be invited to participate in the Security Council's discussions (though not to vote) if they bear on its interests. The council may investigate disputes and make recommendations to the parties concerned, and may call on members to take economic or military measures to enforce its decisions; it has at its disposal a Military Staff Committee, composed of the chiefs of staff of the permanent member countries. The presidency of the Security Council is held for a month at a time by a representative of a member state, in English-language alphabetical order.
The Security Council's role in maintaining international peace and security is set out in Chapters vi and viI of the Charter. Chapter vi deals with the peaceful settlement of disputes likely to endanger international peace and security. If states fail to settle such disputes by negotiation, arbitration, or other peaceful means external to the un, they are obliged to bring them to the attention of the Security Council. In practice they frequently fail to do this. The Security Council may also investigate any dispute or situation to determine if it is likely to endanger international peace. At any stage the Council may recommend appropriate measures and if the parties so request, may make recommendations with a view to peaceful settlement.
Recommendations under Chapter vi of the Charter are not mandatory on states. This means that the Security Council is not able, under this chapter, to force states to keep the peace. It has, therefore, had little success in solving seemingly intractable disputes such as those in the Middle East or Cyprus. Nevertheless, where disputants have recognised their need for third party assistance in reaching solutions, the Security Council has achieved a considerable amount. Examples of successful intervention occurred in the dispute between Indonesia and the Netherlands of 1947–49, in the Lebanon and Jordan crisis of 1958, and in the Congo crisis of the 1960s. In addition the Security Council has frequently helped to ensure orderly transfers of power in colonial countries by organising plebiscites and elections.
Chapter viI of the Charter, on action with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression, was intended to provide a un world security system. The Security Council's decisions under this Chapter are mandatory.
It has the duty of determining the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, and to make recommendations or decide what measures shall be taken. Before making recommendations or decisions it can call upon the states concerned to comply with any provisional measures it determines are necessary or desirable. Subsequently, it may call on member states to impose economic, communication, and diplomatic sanctions on a recalcitrant state, and if these measures are deemed inadequate it may take military action. All member states are obliged to provide the Security Council with such military assistance as is deemed necessary and Article 47 of the Charter provides for the establishment of a Military Staff Committee made up of representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council to coordinate and direct un military operations.
The Economic and Social Council
This guides and coordinates the General Assembly’s economic program. It consists of 54 members elected for three years, one-third retiring in rotation. Each member has one vote and decisions are by a simple majority. It usually meets twice a year, in New York and Geneva; the presidency rotates on the same system as the Security Council. It initiates studies of international economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and related matters, calls for reports from the specialised agencies and other un bodies, such as international experts on economics, transport and communications, human rights, status of women, and so on, as well as regional commissions and hundreds of nongovernmental agencies that have been granted consultative status. It may make recommendations to the General Assembly, or may also draft conventions, binding on states which ratify them, for approval by the General Assembly. It coordinates the activities of the Food and Agriculture Organization (fao).
The Trusteeship Council
The Trusteeship Council is responsible for overseeing the administration of the un trust territories. Its members are China, France, the Russian Federation, the uk, and the us. It holds one regular session a year and can meet in special sessions if required. The system applies to territories formerly held under the League of Nations Mandate system, those acquired from the defeated powers at the end of World War ii, and any others placed under its control. Its objectives are to promote the political, economic, social, and educational advancement of the inhabitants of the territories and their development toward self-government or independence. By 1949 11 territories had been placed under the system. Today, all are independent.
The International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the main judicial organ of the un. Membership is open to all states that are parties to its statute and to other states under certain conditions. Only states, not individuals, can be parties to cases before the court. There is no appeal. Decisions of the Court are binding, but states are not obliged to submit cases to it. They can, however, declare that they accept its jurisdiction as compulsory in certain types of case. The ourt gives advisory opinions at the request of un bodies.
The court consists of 15 independent judges, elected by the Security Council and the General Assembly on the basis of their competence in international law and irrespective of their nationalities, except that no two judges can be nationals of the same state. They serve for nine years and may be immediately reelected. The president and vice president are elected by the court for three-year terms. Decisions are by majority vote of the judges present, and the president has a casting vote.
The Secretariat is headed by the secretary-general, who has under- and assistant secretaries general and a large international staff of civil servants with loyalties to the organisation and the international community rather than to any government. The secretary-general is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council for a renewable five-year term.
Specialized agencies
World Trade Organization (wto) established 1995, headquarters in Geneva; reduction of trade barriers, antidumping code, assistance to trade of developing countries
International Atomic Energy Agency (iaea)
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ibrd) popularly known as the World Bank
International Civil Aviation Organization (icao) established 1947, headquarters in Montreal; safety and efficiency, international facilities and air law
International Development Association (ida) administered by the World Bank
International Finance Corporation (ifc) established 1956; affiliated to the World Bank, it encourages private enterprise in less industrialized countries
International Fund for Agricultural Development (ifad) established 1977, headquarters in Rome; additional funds for benefiting the poorest in Third World countries
International Labor Organization (ilo), headquarters in Geneva
International Maritime Organization (imo) established 1958, headquarters in London; safety at sea, pollution control, abolition of restrictive practices
International Monetary Fund (imf), headquarters in Washington, dc
International Telecommunication Union (itu) established 1934, headquarters in Geneva; allocation of radio frequencies; promotes low tariffs and life-saving measures for, for example, disasters at sea
United Nations Center for Human Settlements (unCHS) (Habitat) established 1978, headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (unCTAD) established 1964, headquarters in Geneva
United Nations Development Program (unDP) established 1965 to promote higher standards of living in the poorer nations and to try to remedy the economic imbalance between North and South; has 48 members, 15 of them in advanced industrial countries and the rest in varying stages of industrialization; headquarters in New York
Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator (unDRO) established 1972 to coordinate international relief; headquarters in Geneva
United Nations Environment Program (unEP) established 1972 to monitor the state of the environment and promote environmentally sound developments throughout the world; headquarters in Nairobi
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (unESCO), headquarters in Paris
United Nations Fund for Population Activities (unFPA) established 1972 under the umbrella of unDP, headquarters in New York
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (unHCR) established 1951, headquarters in Geneva
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (unICEF) established 1953, headquarters in New York
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (unITAR) established 1965, headquarters in New York
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (unRISD) established 1964, headquarters in Geneva
Universal Postal Union (upu), headquarters in Berne, Switzerland
World Food Council (wfc) established 1974, headquarters in Rome
World Food Program (wfp) established 1963 to improve economic and social development through food aid and to provide emergency relief; headquarters in Rome
World Health Organization (who), headquarters in Geneva
World Intellectual Property Organization (wipo) established 1974, headquarters in Geneva; protection of copyright in the arts, science, and industry
World Meteorological Organization (wmo) established 1951, headquarters in Geneva.
Financing the United Nations
Members contribute financially according to their resources, an apportionment being made by the General Assembly, with the addition of voluntary contributions from some governments to the funds of the un. These finance the program of assistance carried out by the un intergovernmental agencies, the United Nations Children’s Fund (unICEF), the un refugee organizations, and the United Nations Special Fund for developing countries. Total unpaid contributions of about $988 million had by the end of 1991 brought the un to the brink of insolvency. Only 18 member states had paid their annual dues in full by the deadline of 31 Jan 1993. The un was owed $500 million in arrears, about half of it by the us.the political work of the un
The un Charter, drawn up at the San Francisco Conference 1945, based on proposals drafted at the Dumbarton Oaks conference in Washington, dc, envisaged in Chapter viI a un world security system, with the Security Council preserving the wartime alliance of the us, usSR, and Britain (with France and China also permanent members) in order to maintain the peace. This never became fully operational as a result of disagreements between the great powers during the cold war period and consequent blocking of Security Council action through the use of the veto. Disagreements in the military staff committee meant that no permanent un force was established and a central element in the security arrangements never came into being. The Security Council has used full enforcement action against states only twice in its history: in Korea in 1950, when it authorised military action to repel the invasion of the South by the North; and in 1966 when it imposed selective mandatory sanctions on Rhodesia (these were made comprehensive in 1968).
The early United Nations consisted mainly of the members of the Western alliance, a Latin American group, and Commonwealth, Arab, and East European groups. Within this United Nations the us and its allies had a built-in majority, and General Assembly resolutions usually reflected the interests and ideals of the Western world. Since the 1960s new nations have joined the un, many of them excolonies from Africa and Asia. These countries have very different traditions and aspirations from the countries of Western Europe and North America and by the 1980s there was a shift in the balance of power in the Assembly. Western nations often found themselves in a minority on resolutions on political and colonial matters, and on development and economic affairs that reflect the interests of the newer members. Particularly significant has been the increased attention given by the Assembly to colonialism on the one hand, and economic and social development on the other. In 1960 the Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, which proclaimed the necessity of bringing colonialism to a speedy and unconditional end, in all its forms and manifestations; declared that the subjection of peoples to alien subjugation was contrary to the Charter and was an impediment to the promotion of world peace and cooperation; and insisted that all people had the right to self-determination. In 1961 a special committee was set up to seek ways of implementing this declaration. Since then General Assembly Resolutions have condemned the situations in South Africa, Namibia, Rhodesia, and in the former Portuguese colonies. The General Assembly recognised the liberation movements in these territories and called on states to intensify pressure on minority régimes. It has also encouraged the Security Council to pay increasing attention to colonial issues.
Taiwan, formerly a permanent member of the Security Council, was expelled 1971 on the admission of China. The breakup of the usSR and the increasing recognition of independent states throughout the world resulted in a further increase in un membership between 1990 and 1992. The Russian Federation took over the Soviet permanent seat on the Security Council.
Disarmament
Disarmament is another concern of the un. Article 2 of the un Charter empowers the General Assembly to make recommendations to member states or to the Security Council on principles governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments, and under Article 26 the Security Council has the responsibility of formulating, with the assistance of the Military Staff Committee, plans for the establishment of a system for the regulation of armaments. Negotiations looked most promising immediately following the easing of the cold war in 1961, when the Soviet Union and the United States produced joint principles (the Zorin/McCloy principles) on general and complete disarmament and effective means for the peaceful settlement of disputes and the maintenance of peace. They envisaged a system under which nations would disarm to the point where they retained only sufficient forces and armaments to provide contingents for a un security force and to maintain internal order. The principles were endorsed by the General Assembly. The following year the Soviet Union and the United States each presented draft treaties on general and complete disarmament, but negotiations broke down mainly over the question of international inspection and control of the disarmament process.
Since 1962 the emphasis in bilateral and multilateral discussion has been on arms-control rather than on disarmament. Arms control treaties agreed, often after negotiations in the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament, which evolved from a body established in 1959, are the Partial Test Ban Treaty (1963); the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Treaty (1967); the Treaty of Tlateloclo making Latin America a nuclear free zone (1967); the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (1968); the Antarctic Treaty (1969); the Seabed Arms Control Treaty (1971); and the Biological Weapons Convention (1972). In recent years the main focus of attention has been on the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (salt) conducted bilaterally between the Soviet Union and the United States.
Peacekeeping activities
The failure of international security as envisaged in the Charter has necessitated the development of other means of keeping the peace. These can be grouped under the heading “peacekeeping”. While peace enforcement is hostile, coercive action directed against a state with the intention of bringing it to heel, peacekeeping is noncoercive and has so far been carried out with the consent of a state and within its territory. It differs also from pacific settlement, since it is concerned not with the fundamental solution to a dispute but with keeping opposing sides apart or restoring law and order.
There are two kinds of peacekeeping operation managed by the un: observer forces responsible for supervising cease-fire lines, the evacuation of troops, and the return of prisoners; and armed peacekeeping forces used to separate opposing sides, patrol frontiers, or curtail military conflict and maintain order. Observer forces have been used in the Balkans, Indonesia, Middle East, Korea, Kashmir, Lebanon, West Irian, and Yemen. Peacekeeping forces have operated in the Middle East, Cyprus, and the Congo. These forces are very lightly armed and are usually permitted to use force only in self-defense. This means that there is little they can do when faced with determined belligerents. However, given a modicum of good will on the part of the belligerents, they can prevent minor incidents escalating, lower tensions, and keep opposing sides away from each other. The un Emergency Force operating on the Israeli/Egyptian border during the 1970s was an example of this activity.
One consequence of the deadlock in the Security Council during the cold war period was an extension of the General Assembly’s powers in maintaining international peace. The Security Council was responsible in June 1950 for sending several thousand troops, mostly American, to Korea to repel the Soviet-backed invasion of South Korea. Following this, the United States introduced in November 1950 the “Uniting for Peace” procedure which provided that in cases where the Council was unable to act because of disagreement among the permanent members, the General Assembly should be called into emergency session to consider the matter with a view to making appropriate recommendations to members, including, in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression, the use of armed force where necessary. These powers, short of the use of force, were used during the Suez Crisis of 1956, the Lebanon Crisis of 1958, and in the Congo in 1960.
As secretary-general 1982–91, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar was responsible for several successful peace initiatives, including the ending of the Iran-Iraq War and the withdrawal of South African and Cuban troops from Angola. The un also responded promptly to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait 1990 but has been unsuccessful in its efforts to establish a permanent peace in the former republics of Yugoslavia. In 1994 it used the threat of nato air strikes to provide safe havens for refugees in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Its attempts at peacemaking, as opposed to peacekeeping, in Somalia also encountered problems and local criticisms.
In 1994, some 70,000 un peacekeepers were deployed, at an annual cost of just under $3 billion.
The economic work of the un
Assistance to developing countries has become increasingly important in the un over the past 25 years. In 1965 the Extended Co-operation Program of Technical Assistance, established in 1949, and the Special Fund of preinvestment surveys, established in 1959, were combined to form the un Development Program (unDP). This body co-ordinates the work of a number of specialised agencies and organisations concerned with development. In 1961 the 1960s were officially designated as the un Development Decade. The aim was to achieve an annual increase in Gross Domestic Product of 5 per cent annually in all developing countries by the end of the decade and developed countries were urged to increase their efforts to promote self-sustaining growth in the developing countries. The results of the First Development Decade were disappointing, partly as a result of the poor response from the developed countries and partly because of mistaken development priorities. A Second Development Decade was launched in 1970 and a coordination strategy adopted.
The un has also concerned itself with the trading problems of the developing countries. In 1961 the un Conference on Trade and Development (unCTAD) was established, based on a belief that fundamental changes in established trading patterns were needed to improve the economic position of developing countries. unCTAD was to be a forum in which developed and developing countries were to discuss and agree on these changes.
The achievements of unCTAD's first three sessions—in 1964, 1968, and 1972–were not encouraging. Before the fourth conference met in May 1976, the developing countries had become much more insistent in their demands. They were also in a position to pass resolutions reflecting their interests in the General Assembly. In April 1974, the Sixth Special Session of the General Assembly on the problem of raw materials and development approved a Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, which would give the developing countries control of their own resources, a better deal in world trade, and full participation in a reformed international monetary system. The Declaration was received with some hostility by the developed countries, but a more cooperative atmosphere prevailed at the Seventh Special Session of the Assembly on world development and international economic co-operation, which was held in September 1975. When the fourth unCTAD met in May 1976 the developing countries had some ho
Pes that some of their demands for protection of their products might be met. The conference in fact failed to settle any of their demands, nor did hopes for negotiation of agreements in 1977 materialise.
The human rights work of the un
In accordance with the Charter, the un has regarded human rights violations by countries as its proper concern. The implementation of this obligation has been handicapped by the interpretation states have put on Article 2 (7) of the Charter prohibiting interference in domestic affairs. Its human rights work is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, passed by the General Assembly on 10 Dec 1948. This is based on a belief in the inherent rights, equality, and freedom of human beings and sets out in 28 articles the fundamental freedoms—civil, political, economic—to be promoted. The Declaration has considerable moral force but is not legally binding on states.
In 1966 two Covenants on Human Rights were agreed: one on civil and political rights, and one on social and economic rights. These are legally binding on states that ratify them, and have now received the 35 ratifications they needed to come into being. They include machinery for implementation and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides for the establishment of a Committee on Human Rights to receive complaints. It may also set up conciliation machinery to help sort out the differences on human rights issues between states. This Covenant also has an optional protocol permitting individuals to petition for the first time on violations of their human rights.
The Commission on Human Rights was established in 1946 by the Economic and Social Council. It meets annually for a period of about six weeks. It was responsible for the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the two Covenants. The Commission functions as a public platform for the discussion of human rights; as a supervising agency for reports submitted by states on progress they have made on human rights, and the difficulties they meet in this respect; and as a body which prepares guidelines for the Economic and Social Council on the protection of human rights. It has no enforcement powers and has to rely on persuasion to achieve its aims. In 1952 it established a sub-commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
In 1946 the Economic and Social Council established the Commission on the Status of Women. This studies the conditions of women throughout the world and recommends improvements. It has drafted a number of Conventions, legally binding on states that ratify them, which have been adopted by un bodies.
In 1975 the General Assembly adopted a Declaration against Torture and other cruel treatment. This has no legal status but has moral force. At the same time the General Assembly called for further study by the Commission on Human Rights on the subject of torture and for increased efforts to prevent it.
An organization of independent states to promote international peace and security; Also called: un.