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Organizations

United Nations

3 documentsFirst seen Apr 5, 2026Last seen Apr 6, 2026

Background

The United Nations is a global intergovernmental organization created by the signing of the UN Charter on 26 June 1945. Its core mandate is to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among states, promote international cooperation, and serve as a centre for harmonizing the actions of states in pursuit of those goals. It matters because it provides the main universal forum where nearly all sovereign states can address security, political, economic, and humanitarian issues collectively.

Its headquarters are in New York City, with major offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna, and The Hague. The organization is composed of six principal organs: the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, International Court of Justice, Secretariat, and Trusteeship Council, alongside specialized and related agencies that form the wider United Nations System. It has 193 member states and two observer states, the Holy See and the State of Palestine, and it does not form part of the Russian state apparatus or economy, though Russia participates as one of its member states and engages with its institutions through its foreign ministry and diplomatic missions.

Since its founding, the UN has played a major role in postwar diplomacy, decolonization, economic and social development, and peacekeeping. Its current peacekeeping operations include missions in the Middle East, Kashmir, Cyprus, the Golan Heights, Lebanon, the Western Sahara, Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. The organization has also been associated with major international agreements and has received repeated recognition through Nobel Peace Prizes awarded to its officers and agencies, while continuing to face criticism over effectiveness, bias, and corruption.

Timeline

  1. Lavrov and Abdullah bin Zayed agreed to coordinate their positions at the United Nations on long-term regional security.

    Press Release: On the Telephone Conversation Between Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE Abdullah bin Zayed

Documents