THE UNITED NATIONS

Today, the U.N. consists of 192 members, and functions primarily out of its headquarters in New York City, as well as several offices abroad.  These functions are carried out by five principal organs:
the General Assembly, Security Council, Secretariat, Economic and Social Council, and International  Court of Justice.  A sixth, the Trusteeship Council, whose purpose was to render assistance to territories that were not self-governing at the end of World War Two, suspended operation in 1994, due to the fact that there were no more places left that officially fit this description.

The General Assembly consists of one delegate from each member nation.  Any relevant question may be discussed.  Each delegate has one vote.  Seeming defects consist of the facts that:
a.  the tiniest countries with the smallest populations have an equal voice with the very largest.  (As an illustration of this potentially great imbalance, it was propositioned a few years ago that if the ninety seven states having the smallest populations lined up against the ninety five with the largest populations, a resolution could be carried by the representatives of about 198 million people, and against the presumed will of the more than 5.4 billion people who comprised the rest of the world); and
b.  the decisions arrived at by the General Assembly are simply "recommendations," and have no binding effect upon anyone.

The Security Council is responsible for preserving peace in the world.  It consists of fifteen members, of which five are permanent and veto-wielding (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States).  The other ten are elected by the General Assembly for two year terms--five of which expire each year.  Its decisions regarding actions to settle international disputes are binding upon, and are required to be carried out by, all member states.  However, its weakness consists of  the fact that a veto by a single permanent member serves to defeat any decision thus arrived at.  This has been said to render the United Nations basically impotent.  The classic early example of the frustration involved in this "veto power" occurred in 1948, when the Soviets imposed a blockade within Berlin; whereupon a Security Council proposal to direct the lifting of said blockade was defeated by the Soviet Union via the casting of its veto.

The Secretariat, which includes the Secretary-General, manages the day-to-day business of the organization.

The Economic and Social Council, consisting of fifty four nations, is the organ that represents a broader degree of concern and responsibility for world economic and social problems than the League of Nations possessed.  Its functions include programs which are designed to encourage and produce higher standards of living, better health conditions, cultural and educational cooperation, and greater observance of human rights throughout the world.

The Inrernational Court of Justice, located at The Hague, is the United Nations' judicial segment.  It is presided over by fifteen judges from fifteen separate countries, who represent the world's major civilizations and legal traditions.  Its purpose is the settlement of disputes between countries.  However, it has no power to enforce its decisions--which are subject as well to veto by a permanent member of the Security Council.  Thus, a decision can, and frequently does, go unheeded.  Moreover, in 1986, after a decision that the United States' covert war against Nicaragua was a violation of international law, the U.S. withdreww from compulsory jurisdiction of said tribunal, and accepts same only on a case-by-case basis.