Evolution and Structure of the United Nations (Class 12 Political Science)

Understand Evolution and Structure of the UN

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

• not created to take humanity to heaven, but to save it from hell

  Dag Hammarskjold, second UN Secretary-General (quoted in NCERT, Chapter 4): Answering the charge that the UN has not solved the world's problems.

  The UN's purpose is preventing catastrophe, not creating a perfect world.

• jaw-jaw is better than war-war

  Shashi Tharoor, quoting Churchill (NCERT, Chapter 4): Replying to critics who call the UN a 'talking shop'.

  Talking, however tedious, is better than fighting.

• An international organisation is not a super-state

  NCERT, Contemporary World Politics, Chapter 4: Explaining what international organisations are.

  States create them and they answer to states; they cannot command members.

• the great hope of humanity for peace and progress

  NCERT, Chapter 4: On how many people around the world see the UN.

  Balances the cartoons that mock its ineffectiveness.

Evolution and Structure of the UN: key facts

Founding timeline

• •Aug 1941 Atlantic Charter (Roosevelt, Churchill)
• •Jan 1942 Declaration by United Nations, 26 Allies, Washington
• •Dec 1943 Tehran
• •Feb 1945 Yalta, Big Three
• •Apr-May 1945 San Francisco conference
• •26 Jun 1945 Charter, 50 states (+ Poland = 51)
• •24 Oct 1945 UN founded, UN Day
• •30 Oct 1945 India joins

Chronology items pick four of these.

Why international organisations

• •Not a super-state; created by and answerable to states
• •Help settle disputes peacefully
• •Tackle problems no state can solve alone: disease, global warming
• •Give information, ideas, rules, mechanisms and a bureaucracy so costs, benefits and promises are trusted

Four heads for 'advantages' or 'importance' answers.

Security Council

• •5 permanent: US, Russia, UK, France, China
• •10 non-permanent, 2-year terms, no immediate re-election, all continents
• •11 to 15 members in 1965
• •Veto: one permanent member's negative vote stalls a decision

Permanency and veto are the two privileges of the P5.

Organs and functions

General Assembly	debates global issues, one vote each
Security Council	international peace and security
ECOSOC	economic and social welfare
ICJ	disputes between members
Secretariat	administration, headed by the Secretary-General
Trusteeship Council	to be wound up (2005)

UNESCO, WHO, UNICEF are agencies, not organs.

Secretaries-General in order

Lie	Norway
Hammarskjold	Sweden
U Thant	Burma
Waldheim	Austria
Perez de Cuellar	Peru
Boutros-Ghali	Egypt
Annan	Ghana
Ban Ki-moon	South Korea
Guterres	Portugal, ninth, from 2017

Ban Ki-moon was the second Asian; U Thant the first.

How to answer Evolution and Structure of the UN questions

1. 1Read whether the question asks for organs, agencies or both; never list UNESCO or WHO as an organ.
2. 2For 'composition', give numbers: all members in the General Assembly; 5 + 10 in the Security Council with two-year terms.
3. 3For 'functions', pair each organ with one clear job, as in the formula table.
4. 4For 'importance' or 'advantages', use the four heads: peaceful settlement, shared problems, rules and trust, a forum for all.
5. 5In chronology items, anchor on 1945: League before, World Bank 1944 before, IAEA 1957 and WTO 1995 after.
6. 6For a 6-mark answer, end with a judgement: imperfect, but the world would be worse without it.

Evolution and Structure of the UN in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Tricks to remember Evolution and Structure of the UN

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• A-D-T-Y-S-C

  Atlantic (1941), Declaration (1942), Tehran (1943), Yalta (Feb 1945), San Francisco (Apr-May 1945), Charter (26 June 1945): 'All Diplomats Take Yoga Sessions Calmly'.

  Use it when: Chronology of the UN's founding.

• Five plus ten, two years, no again

  5 permanent, 10 non-permanent, each elected member sits 2 years and cannot return at once.

  Use it when: Security Council composition.

• Three Western, two Eastern

  P5 = the three Western victors (US, UK, France) + the two big Eastern states (Russia, China). Japan, Germany and India are not in it.

  Use it when: Permanent member MCQs.

Evolution and Structure of the UN: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Where students lose marks in Evolution and Structure of the UN

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Calling agencies organs

  Both are 'parts of the UN' in students' minds.

  Wrong working

  Principal organs: General Assembly, Security Council, UNESCO, WHO.

  Right working

  Organs: General Assembly, Security Council, Secretariat, ECOSOC, ICJ, Trusteeship Council. UNESCO and WHO are agencies.

  ✓Do this: Learn the six organs as one fixed list.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Wrong founding numbers

  Mixing 26, 50, 51 and 193.

  Wrong working

  The UN was founded by 26 nations.

  Right working

  26 Allies signed the 1942 Declaration; 50 signed the Charter; Poland made 51; 193 members by 2011.

  ✓Do this: Tie each number to its event.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Vague composition

  Writing 'some permanent and some temporary members'.

  Wrong working

  The Security Council has a few big countries and some others.

  Right working

  5 permanent (named) with veto; 10 non-permanent, two-year terms, no immediate re-election.

  ✓Do this: Always give numbers and names.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks in a 6-mark answer.

• ✗Mistake: Treating the UN as a world government

  Assuming it can order states.

  Wrong working

  The UN should have forced Israel to stop at once.

  Right working

  The UN is not a super-state; it acts only as members, especially the P5, allow.

  ✓Do this: Use NCERT's 'not a super-state' idea when judging its failures.

  Usually costs: Quality marks in evaluation questions.

Practice questions on Evolution and Structure of the UN

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   Pick the country that does not hold a permanent seat on the Security Council.
   (a) France
   (b) China
   (c) Germany
   (d) Russia

   Hint

   Victors of 1945.

   Answer

   (c) Germany.

2. Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

   List four of the UN's principal organs and give the role of one of them. (2 marks)

   Hint

   Organs, not agencies.

   Answer

   General Assembly, Security Council, Secretariat, Economic and Social Council (also the International Court of Justice and the Trusteeship Council). For example, the International Court of Justice resolves disputes between member countries.

3. Q3 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level

   What were the UN's objectives when it was founded in 1945? Explain. (4 marks)

   Hint

   Prevent, limit, cooperate, develop.

   Answer

   The UN was meant to do what the League of Nations could not. First, to prevent international conflict, so that quarrels between states do not escalate into war. Second, if war did break out, to limit the extent of the fighting. Third, to facilitate cooperation among states on matters they cannot handle alone. Fourth, because conflicts often arise from a lack of social and economic development, to bring countries together to improve development prospects all over the world, which it does through agencies such as WHO, UNDP, UNICEF and UNHCR.

4. Q4 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level

   How are non-permanent members of the Security Council different from permanent members? Give two differences. (2 marks)

   Hint

   Term and veto.

   Answer

   (i) Non-permanent members are elected for two years at a time and cannot be re-elected immediately, while permanent members hold their seats permanently. (ii) Non-permanent members have no veto, while any permanent member can block a decision with its negative vote.

5. Q5 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

   Assertion (A): The UN can compel its member states to obey its decisions in all matters.
   Reason (R): An international organisation is created by states and responds to them.
   (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
   (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
   (c) A is true but R is false.
   (d) A is false but R is true.

   Hint

   Is it a super-state?

   Answer

   (d) A is false but R is true: the UN is not a super-state with authority over its members.

6. Q6 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   Suppose a classmate says the UN is useless because it could not stop the 2006 attack on Lebanon. Write a reply of about 100 words that accepts part of the criticism but defends the UN. (4 marks)

   Hint

   Concede, then three defences.

   Answer

   Your criticism is partly fair: the UN passed a resolution only in August 2006, two months after Israel attacked Lebanon, and Israeli troops withdrew only in October, while many civilians died. But the UN is not a super-state; it can act only as far as its member states, especially the permanent five, allow. Judging it by one failure ignores what it does: most disputes between states are settled without war, often with its help; it brings almost every country together on problems like epidemics and climate change; and its agencies work for health, children and refugees. As Hammarskjold said, it exists to save us from hell, not to deliver heaven.

7. Q7 · 6 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

   "The structure of the UN still reflects the world of 1945." Examine this statement with reference to the Security Council, and suggest how far the UN has adapted. (6 marks)

   Hint

   P5 chosen as victors; size changed once; new organs and agencies.

   Answer

   The statement has much truth. The five permanent members, the US, Russia, the UK, France and China, were chosen because they were the most powerful states and the victors of the Second World War, and they still hold permanency and the veto. Germany, Japan and large developing countries such as India have no permanent seat. The Council was enlarged only once, from 11 to 15 members in 1965, with no new permanent members, while the General Assembly grew to 193 members, mostly developing countries. Africa and South America have no permanent representation.

   Yet the UN has adapted in other ways. The General Assembly gives every state one vote. Non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms to represent all continents. Agencies such as WHO, UNDP, UNICEF and UNHCR have taken on development and humanitarian work, and in 2005 members agreed to create a Peacebuilding Commission and a Human Rights Council and to wind up the Trusteeship Council, whose job had ended. Secretaries-General from Asia, Africa and Latin America have led it.

   So the UN has adapted its work and agencies, but the core of power, the Security Council, still mirrors 1945. That gap is why reform of the Council dominates debates about the UN today.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.When is UN Day?Show answer

   24 October, the day the UN was founded in 1945.

2. 2.When did India join the UN?Show answer

   30 October 1945.

3. 3.Which organisation did the UN succeed?Show answer

   The League of Nations.

4. 4.How many members did the UN have by 2011?Show answer

   193.

5. 5.When was the Security Council enlarged from 11 to 15 members?Show answer

   1965.

6. 6.Who is the ninth Secretary-General, according to NCERT?Show answer

   Antonio Guterres of Portugal, from 1 January 2017.

Evolution and Structure of the UN: frequently asked questions