If we had had this Charter a few years ago-and above all, the will to use it- millions, now dead, would be alive. If we should falter in the future in our will to use it, millions, now living, will surely die.' (Truman) This statement delivered by Truman reveals the ambitions of the Charter and the hope its conceivers had of it being respected and applied. Since it was formulated, the Charter has remained a central plank of international order. In this essay, we will try to justify its strength, even though it was formulated in wartime and by only a few of the victorious powers, and will reveal the reasons for its power.
First of all, before attempting to answer this question we will define what the United Nations
Charter is. The United Nations Charter is actually the written constitution of the United Nations
Organization. As we can see its wording incorporates both the name of the legal instrument and that
of the Organization . It is also a multilateral treaty which in respect of the agreements, rights and
duties it confers on its signatories and members is an important source of international law. Its
genesis began in the very moment in which the collapse of the League of Nations and consequently
of its Covenant became evident. The Charter was signed in San Francisco on 26 June 1945 and was
ratified by fifty-one states and came into being on 24 October 1945 (known as United Nations Day).
The Charter, which runs to III articles, provides and embodies the UN's organizational structure,
principles, functions and powers. The UN is then supposed to apply them. The primary objectives
stated in the Charter are to maintain international peace and security through peaceful settlement of
disputes and collective security, to promote international economic and social cooperation and last
but not least, to promote respect for human rights for all. Secondly, we must define what
international order is. It is the combination of major actors, rules, mechanisms and understandings to
manage the coexistence and interdependence of states.
[...] Miall Hugh. Week 3 lecture: The foundation of the UN and the UN Charter. Simma Bruno(ed). (1995) The Charter of the United Nations. Oxford University Press. Waters Maurice (1967) The United Nations. McMillan. [...]
[...] With all these minor changes, the UN Charter can hope to still remain a central plank of international order. Moreover the fact that the changes are minor shows how complete and intemporal the Charter is. The reforms we have just cited are the official ones proposed by Kofi Annan but other people say there are other things to change. For example, there is a need to change some things in the Charter as some major powers have tended to deal with each other outside the framework of the UN (US intervention in Iraq not under UN flag). [...]
[...] The principles of the United Nations Charter have come to be widely accepted by the international community as it is the only written constitution still existing today at an international level. The League of Nations did have its Covenant but both failed to work. We will see later on what was lacking in the Covenant. So finally, people take what there is, what is offered to them (the UN Charter), and this phenomenon makes it considered and respected by most of the international community. [...]
[...] So, to this day the UN Charter because of its original qualities has remained a central plank of international order, but for how long will these be enough? This question has led to thoughts about reforming it. There is already a widespread agreement that the UN needs to reform some of its aspects as it is not achieving its full potential and it must by all means avoid becoming an outdated and irrelevant organization on the world stage, because this would be such a waste. [...]
[...] Secondly, we must define what international order is. It is the combination of major actors, rules, mechanisms and understandings to manage the coexistence and interdependence of states. Now that we have defined these main concepts, we will study the United Nations Charter on the basis of its implication and influence on international order. Why is it (still) a foundation of international order? The United Nations Charter has evolved. And it has done so, even without being rewritten (only amended twice in its lifetime). [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
