United Nations Charter

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Perhaps the key portion of the United Nations Charter is the preamble combined with Article 1. The preamble expresses the goals of peace, tolerance, justice, and security for all nations. Article 1 states that the United Nations will “take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace” and will promote the “settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.” Additionally, Article 1 calls for “respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples,” “international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character,” and “respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.”

Overall, the United Nations Charter is divided into a series of articles that are grouped into chapters. Chapter I specifies the purposes of the United Nations, including provisions for maintaining international peace and security. Chapter II specifies criteria for membership in the United Nations. The bulk of the charter is contained in chapters III through XV, which describe the institutions and organs of the United Nations. The two most widely known are the General Assembly, with representatives from each member country, and the Security Council, consisting of fifteen members. The Security Council has five permanent members—the United States, the Soviet Union (today the Russian Federation), France, the United Kingdom, and China (today, the People's Republic of China)—and ten revolving nonpermanent members. A key provision regarding the Security Council is that on substantive (as opposed to procedural) matters, the vote of the permanent members has to be unanimous, giving any one member “veto” power. The Security Council is often in the news, for it tends to deal with the gravest threats to peace.

Various chapters of the charter describe the United Nation's enforcement mechanisms. For example, chapter VI describes the power of the Security Council to investigate and mediate disputes, while chapter VII describes its power to resolve disputes by authorizing diplomatic, economic, or military sanctions or the use of military force. Chapter VIII allows countries to make regional arrangements to maintain peace and security within their own region. Chapters IX and X enumerate powers having to do with economic and social cooperation and describes the Economic and Social Council that oversees these powers. Chapters XIV and XV establish the powers of, respectively, the International Court of Justice and the United Nations Secretariat.