The Cold War - International Organizations
The United Nations
The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the UN
Charter had been ratified by a majority of the original 51 Member States. The day is
now celebrated each year around the world as United Nations Day.
The purpose of the United Nations is to bring all nations of the world together to work
for peace and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the
well-being of all people. It affords the opportunity for countries to balance global
interdependence and national interests when addressing international problems.
There are currently 193 Members of the United Nations. They meet in the General
Assembly, which is the closest thing to a world parliament. Each country, large or
small, rich or poor, hashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations
a single vote, however, none of the decisions taken by the
Assembly are binding. Nevertheless, the Assembly's decisions become resolutions that
carry the weight of world governmental opinion.
The funding for the United Nations is provided by
members of the UN with the United States being
the largest contributor (see table below).
The United Nations Headquarters is in New York
City but the land and buildings are international
territory. The United Nations has its own flag, its
own post office and its own postage stamps. Six
official languages are used at the United Nations Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and
Spanish. The UN European Headquarters is in the
Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. It has
offices in Vienna, Austria and Economic
Commissions in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Amman
in Jordan, Bangkok in Thailand and Santiago in
Chile. The senior officer of the United Nations
Secretariat is the Secretary-General.
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The Cold War - International Organizations
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is an intergovernmental military
alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949. The
organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states
agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party (an attack
on one is an attack on all). NATO's headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, one of
the 28 member states across North America and Europe, the newest of which,
Albania and Croatia, joined in April 2009. An additional 22 countries participate in
NATO's "Partnership for Peace", with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized
dialogue programs. The combined military spending of all NATO members
constitutes over 70% of the world's defense spending.
NATO was not much more than a political association until the Korean War
galvanized the member states, and an integrated military structure was built up
under the direction of two U.S. supreme commanders. The course of the Cold War
led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact, which formed in 1955. The
creation of NATO brought about some standardization of allied military
terminology, procedures, and technology, which in many cases meant European
countries adopting U.S. practices.
Article 5 of the North Atlantic treaty, requiring member states to come to the
aid of any member state subject to an armed attack, was invoked for the first and
only time after the 11 September 2001 attacks, after which troops were deployed
to Afghanistan under the NATO-led ISAF. The organization has operated a range of
additional roles since then, including sending trainers to Iraq, assisting in counterpiracy operations[6] and in 2011 enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya in accordance
with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973. The less potent Article 4, which merely
invokes consultation among NATO members has been invoked three times, and
only by Turkey: once in 2003 over the Iraq War, and twice in 2012 over the Syrian
civil war after the downing of an unarmed Turkish F-4 reconnaissance jet and after
a mortar was fired at Turkey from Syria.
Modified from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO
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“Iron Curtain”
1949
NATO Allied Nations
Communist - Autonomous
1955
Warsaw Pact Allied Nations
Communist - Aligned With China
Non-Aligned Nations
“The Iron Curtain”
Adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Iron_Curtain_map.svg
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