‘Live Together in Peace’

For two months in the spring of 1945—as Soviet forces closed in on Adolf Hitler’s Berlin bunker before Germany’s eventual surrender in World War II—delegates from 50 nations gathered at San Francisco’s opera house. By day, they debated whether certain nations should hold more power on the global stage than others. By night, they mingled at swanky cocktail parties and dinners hosted by various delegations. Their goal? To ensure that the horrors of the still-raging war, which would kill more than 70 million people, would never happen again.

“If we do not want to die together in war, we must learn to live together in peace,” President Harry S. Truman urged the conference on its opening day. It was his predecessor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had envisioned a “United Nations” headed by “four policemen” who would maintain order in the postwar world: eventual World War II victors Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China. France became the fifth after it was liberated from Nazi rule. But when Roosevelt died suddenly, less than two weeks before the conference began, the newly sworn-in President Truman picked up the mantle.

From April 25 to June 26, 1945, 850 delegates met in San Francisco to realize Roosevelt’s vision. Whatever their doubts and disagreements, they managed to hammer out a charter, 80 years ago this summer, establishing the purpose and structure of the United Nations (U.N.). In the ensuing decades, the U.N., from its flag-adorned headquarters in New York City, has attempted—with mixed results—to keep the peace when violence erupts around the world. But it’s also fed hundreds of millions of people in conflict and disaster zones, administered millions of vaccines against deadly diseases, and helped resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees.

“Throughout its history, the United Nations has never fulfilled the hopes of its founders, but it accomplished a good deal nevertheless,” says Stanley Meisler, author of United Nations: A History. “While taking part in some of the most tumultuous events” of its time, “the United Nations served the world nobly and well.”

In the spring of 1945, Soviet forces were approaching Adolf Hitler’s Berlin bunker before Germany’s eventual surrender in World War II. At the same time, delegates from 50 nations met at San Francisco’s opera house for two months. They debated whether certain nations should hold more power than others. After the daily meetings, they attended fancy cocktail parties and dinners hosted by various delegations. Their goal was to make sure that the horrors of the still-raging war would never happen again. (More than 70 million people were killed during World War II.)

“If we do not want to die together in war, we must learn to live together in peace,” President Harry S. Truman urged the conference on its opening day. It was his predecessor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had thought of a “United Nations” headed by “four policemen” who would maintain order in the postwar world. The World War II victors Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China would serve as the “four policemen.” France became the fifth after it was freed from Nazi rule. President Roosevelt suddenly died less than two weeks before the conference began. Newly sworn-in President Truman championed the idea.

From April 25 to June 26, 1945, 850 delegates met in San Francisco to realize Roosevelt’s vision. Whatever their doubts and disagreements, they managed to hammer out a charter. The purpose and structure of the United Nations (U.N.) was created 80 years ago this summer. In the following decades, the U.N., located in New York City, has tried—with mixed results— to keep the peace around the world. But it also has other functions. The U.N. has fed hundreds of millions of people in conflict and disaster zones, administered millions of vaccines against deadly diseases, and helped resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees.

“Throughout its history, the United Nations has never fulfilled the hopes of its founders, but it accomplished a good deal nevertheless,” says Stanley Meisler, author of United Nations: A History. “While taking part in some of the most tumultuous events” of its time, “the United Nations served the world nobly and well.”

That mixed record has its roots in a predecessor organization to the U.N.: the League of Nations. The League, founded in 1920 in the aftermath of World War I, had a similar goal of promoting global peace following a brutal war. But the League had required the unanimity of its member nations for any significant action to be taken—a nearly impossible goal. And even though President Woodrow Wilson had proposed the League, he could never persuade Congress to join. Roosevelt wanted his United Nations, which had American support, to have a clearer hierarchy.

That mixed record dates back to the League of Nations, the organization that came before the U.N. The League was founded in 1920 in the aftermath of World War I. Its goals were similar to the U.N.’s, including promoting global peace following a brutal war. But the League had required the unanimity of its member nations for any significant action to be taken. This was a nearly impossible goal. And even though President Woodrow Wilson had proposed the League, he could never persuade Congress to join. Roosevelt wanted his United Nations, which had American support, to have a clearer hierarchy.

Historians say the veto power held by the five permanent Security Council members paralyzed the U.N. in responding to various regional crises that cropped up during its first 45 years—the years of the Cold War, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were jockeying for global influence and took turns blocking any resolution that they thought might help the other.

Yet U.N. actions have still helped shape the modern world. In 1947, the U.N. created the state of Israel, partitioning the British-occupied territory of Palestine between the majority Arab population and the minority population of Jews, whose numbers were rapidly expanding with the arrival of displaced survivors of the Holocaust.

A few years later, U.N. peacekeeping forces defended South Korea during an invasion by Communist North Korea and brokered an armistice that has held for 70 years.

When the world’s two superpowers confronted each other in 1962 over the Soviet placement of ballistic missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from American shores, the tensions publicly played out during a Security Council meeting. U.N. ambassador Adlai Stevenson of the U.S. displayed photographs of the missiles taken by spy planes and challenged his Soviet counterpart to deny that his country planted the missile launchers, famously declaring: “I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over.” Behind the scenes, U Thant, the U.N. secretary general, mediated a deal between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to remove the missiles, preventing a nuclear Armageddon.

And from the late 1940s through the ’60s, the U.N. helped several African and Asian countries achieve and defend their independence from European colonial powers. Throughout the 1980s, it exerted pressure on South Africa until the government ended apartheid, its discriminatory system of White rule, in 1990. When the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was a feeling of optimism that the U.N. could finally live up to its founders’ ideals.

But that hope didn’t last long. The U.N. peacekeeping response to civil wars that broke out in the former Yugoslav republics in the early 1990s failed to prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. And in 1994, in one of the darkest moments in the U.N.’s history, its members were too slow to act while Hutu extremists in Rwanda killed 800,000 Tutsis in an ethnic cleansing campaign, and Tutsis responded with retributive massacres.

Since then, the U.N. has come to realize that it can be most useful by intervening in conflicts where the warring parties are exhausted from fighting and are finally ready to rebuild.

“Well-meaning failures,” says Meisler, “forced the United Nations to scale down its ambitions.”

Historians say the veto power held by the five permanent Security Council members paralyzed the U.N. in responding to various regional crises that occurred in the first 45 years. During these years, known as the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were competing for global influence. They took turns blocking any resolution that they thought might help the other.

Yet U.N. actions have still helped shape the modern world. In 1947, the U.N. created the state of Israel. They separated the British-occupied territory of Palestine between the majority Arab population and the minority population of Jews, whose numbers were rapidly expanding with the arrival of displaced survivors of the Holocaust.

A few years later, U.N. peacekeeping forces defended South Korea during an invasion by Communist North Korea and brokered a truce that has held for 70 years.

In 1962, the Soviet Union placed ballistic missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from American shores. The tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union publicly played out during a Security Council meeting. U.N. ambassador Adlai Stevenson of the U.S. displayed photographs of the missiles taken by spy planes.  He then challenged his Soviet counterpart to deny that his country planted the missile launchers, famously declaring: “I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over.” Behind the scenes, U Thant, the U.N. secretary general, mediated a deal between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to remove the missiles, preventing a nuclear war.

And from the late 1940s through the ’60s, the U.N. helped several African and Asian countries achieve and defend their independence from European colonial powers. Throughout the 1980s, it exerted pressure on South Africa to end apartheid. The discriminatory system of White rule ended in 1990. When the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was a feeling of optimism that the U.N. could finally live up to its founders’ ideals.

But that hope didn’t last long. In the early 1990s, the U.N. peacekeeping response to civil wars that broke out in the former Yugoslav republics failed to prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. And in 1994, in one of the darkest moments in the U.N.’s history, its members were too slow to respond to the conflict in Rwanda. Hutu extremists killed 800,000 Tutsis in an ethnic cleansing campaign. The Tutsis responded with retributive massacres.

Since then, the U.N. has come to realize that it can be most useful by intervening in conflicts where the warring parties are exhausted from fighting and are finally ready to rebuild.

“Well-meaning failures,” says Meisler, “forced the United Nations to scale down its ambitions.”

Chilled relations between Moscow and Washington during much of the last two decades have also frequently stymied the U.N. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia has blocked several Security Council resolutions calling for an end to the war. And more broadly, ideological divisions in the Security Council have led Russia, the U.S., and China to use their vetoes more frequently, which some experts fear has made the council less responsive to crises. It has authorized only two peacekeeping missions, in Haiti and the Central African Republic, since 2014.

Though U.S. leadership is a large part of the reason for the U.N.’s existence, the relationship between the U.S. and the U.N. has varied greatly over the years. While all member nations are required to contribute to the U.N.’s budget, the U.S. is the biggest funder, providing 22 percent of the core budget and 27 percent of the peacekeeping budget.

Chilled relations between Moscow and Washington during much of the last two decades have also frequently hindered the U.N. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia has blocked several Security Council resolutions calling for an end to the war. Broad ideological divisions in the Security Council have led Russia, the U.S., and China to use their vetoes more frequently in recent years. Some experts fear this has made the council less responsive to crises. Since 2014, it has authorized only two peacekeeping missions, in Haiti and the Central African Republic.

Though U.S. leadership is a large part of the reason for the U.N.’s existence, the relationship between the U.S. and the U.N. has varied greatly over the years. All member nations are required to contribute to the U.N.’s budget. The U.S. is the biggest funder of the U.N., providing 22 percent of the core budget and 27 percent of the peacekeeping budget.

President Trump has said that the U.S. spends too much on the U.N. and has issued executive orders to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) and the Paris Climate Agreement, an international treaty to fight climate change. He also ordered a pause on most funding for international aid, which affects many U.N. programs. Yet in his first term, Trump worked through the Security Council to impose sanctions on North Korea and Iran. Experts say his reelection has ushered in a period of uncertainty as the U.N. faces ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.

“Trump is up against isolationists in his own party,” says Schlesinger, the historian. “But he learned in his first term how useful the U.N. can be in advancing foreign policy objectives.”

Many other nations remain critical of the U.N. and its structure today. Numerous African leaders as well as nations including Germany, India, and Brazil want to increase the number of permanent seats on the Security Council, which they say reflects an outdated world order.

President Trump has said that the U.S. spends too much on the U.N. He has issued executive orders to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) and the Paris Climate Agreement, an international treaty to fight climate change. He also ordered a pause on most funding for international aid. This affects many U.N. programs. Yet in his first term, Trump worked through the Security Council to impose sanctions on North Korea and Iran. Experts say his reelection has ushered in a period of uncertainty as the U.N. faces ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa.

“Trump is up against isolationists in his own party,” says Schlesinger, the historian. “But he learned in his first term how useful the U.N. can be in advancing foreign policy objectives.”

Many other nations remain critical of the U.N. and its structure today. Numerous African leaders as well as nations including Germany, India, and Brazil say the Security Council reflects an outdated world order. They want to increase the number of permanent seats on the Security Council.

Looking to the future, the U.N.’s greatest effectiveness may lie in its non-security partner organizations (see “On the Ground,” below). The W.H.O. has played a leading role in the eradication of smallpox and the spread of vaccines and drugs to fight diseases including AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. UNICEF, the U.N.’s youth-focused agency, has helped tens of millions of young people access education and health care. UNESCO, the U.N.’s cultural agency, has protected more than 1,200 historic and scenic sites, such as the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt and Machu Picchu in Peru.

The U.N. charter makes clear that its primary goal is “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” Many regional wars have broken out since, but Schlesinger argues: “If we didn’t have the U.N., this world would be in greater turmoil. . . . Not to have a [third] world war is the best reason to have the U.N.”

Looking to the future, the U.N.’s greatest effectiveness may lie in its non-security partner organizations (see “On the Ground,” below). The W.H.O. has played a leading role in the eradication of smallpox. It has also distributed vaccines and drugs to fight diseases including AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. UNICEF, the U.N.’s youth-focused agency, has helped tens of millions of young people access education and health care. UNESCO, the U.N.’s cultural agency, has protected more than 1,200 historic and scenic sites, such as the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt and Machu Picchu in Peru.

The U.N. charter makes clear that its primary goal is “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” Many regional wars have broken out since, but Schlesinger argues: “If we didn’t have the U.N., this world would be in greater turmoil. . . . Not to have a [third] world war is the best reason to have the U.N.”