The United Nations is the center for solving problems that all of humanity faces. These activities are carried out jointly by more than 30 related organizations that make up the United Nations system. Day by day, the United Nations and other organizations of its system work to promote respect for human rights, protect environment, disease control and poverty reduction.

The United Nations was founded on October 24, 1945 by fifty-one countries determined to keep the peace through development. international cooperation and ensure collective security. To date, 191 countries are members of the United Nations, that is, almost all countries of the world. When states become members of the United Nations, they accept the obligations set out in the Charter of the United Nations, which is an international treaty that reflects the basic principles of international relations.

According to the Charter, the United Nations pursues four goals in its activities: to maintain international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among nations, to carry out international cooperation in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights, and also to be a center for coordinating the actions of nations in achieving these common goals.

History of the United Nations

The emergence of the UN was due to a number of objective factors of the military-strategic, political, economic development of human society at the end of the second millennium. The creation of the UN was the embodiment of the eternal dream of mankind for such a device and organization of international community that would save mankind from the endless series of wars and ensure peaceful living conditions for peoples, their progressive advancement along the path of socio-economic progress, prosperity and development, free from fear for the future. .

The beginning of the discussion and development of the problem of the general organization of labor and security was laid by the Atlantic Party, signed by US President F.D. the first formulated an extremely important task facing the peace-loving states, namely "to determine the ways and means for organizing international relations and the post-war order of the world."

The first intergovernmental document adopted during the Second World War, which put forward the idea of ​​creating a new international security organization, was the Declaration of the Government Soviet Union and the Government of the Polish Republic on Friendship and Mutual Assistance, signed in Moscow on December 4, 1941. It pointed out that a lasting and just world could only be achieved by a new organization of international relations, based not on the unification of democratic countries in a lasting alliance. When creating such an organization, the decisive moment should be "respect for international law, supported by the collective armed force of all Allied States."

January 1, 1942 In Washington, the Declaration of the United Nations was signed by 26 member states of the anti-Hitler coalition, including the USSR, on joint efforts in the fight against Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and militaristic Japan. The name "United Nations" was later proposed for the new organization by US President R.D. Roosevelt and was officially used for the UN Charter.

At the suggestion of the US government in August - September 1944 in Dumbarton Oaks, on the outskirts of Washington, a conference of four powers - the USSR, Great Britain, the USA and China was held, at which the agreed text of the final document was signed: "Proposal for the creation of the General International Security Organization". These proposals served as the basis for the development of the UN Charter.

During the work of the Conference in San Francisco on April 25, 1945. The text of the UN Charter was prepared, which was signed on June 26, 1945. From the day the UN Charter came into force on October 24, 1945, when the last 29th instrument of ratification of the USSR was deposited with the US Government, the beginning of the existence of the UN is officially counted. By decision General Assembly adopted in 1947. The day of entry into force of the UN Charter was officially declared "United Nations Day", which is solemnly celebrated annually in the countries - members of the UN.

The UN Charter embodies democratic ideals, which finds expression, in particular, in the fact that it affirms faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equality of men and women, and enshrines the equality of large and small peoples. The Charter of the United Nations establishes as its main objectives the maintenance of international peace and security, settlement by peaceful means, in accordance with the principles of justice and international law, international disputes and situations. It determines that the UN is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its members, that all members faithfully fulfill their obligations under the Charter in order to provide them all in the aggregate with the rights and benefits arising from membership in the Organization, that all members must resolve by and refrain from the threat of force or its application, and that the UN has the right to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any State. The UN Charter emphasizes the open nature of the Organization, whose members can be all peace-loving states.

How the UN functions

The United Nations is not a world government and does not make laws. However, it provides means to help resolve international conflicts and develop policies on issues that affect us all. In the United Nations, all Member States, large and small, rich and poor, adhere to various political views and social systems - have the right to express their opinion and take part in voting within this process.

The United Nations has six principal organs. Five of them - the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat - are located at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Sixth organ - International Court- located in The Hague, the Netherlands.

United Nations General Assembly

It is a body in which all UN member states are represented. The General Assembly has a number of very important functions: the power to consider general principles cooperation in maintaining international peace and security, including the principles governing armaments, as well as to discuss a wide range of problems of cooperation between states in the political, economic, social, environmental, scientific, technical and other fields and make recommendations on them.

The General Assembly holds annual regular sessions, which are only interrupted in December of each year and continue until the beginning of the next session. Plenary sessions open on the Tuesday after the second Monday in September. Such special (from 1946 to 2000 there were 24) and emergency special (from 1946 to 1999 there were 10) sessions are convened. The provisional agenda for a regular session is drawn up General Secretary and communicated to UN Members at least 60 days before the opening of the session.

A characteristic feature of the activities of the General Assembly in last years is that everything big values in its work, and indeed in the work of all UN bodies, acquires the first applied in 1964. in the Security Council and the method widely used in the General Assembly for the development and adoption of resolutions based on the principle of agreement (consensus), i.e. reaching a general agreement without a vote on the relevant decision.

Resolutions of the General Assembly are not legally binding on states, but neither can they be qualified as mere appeals or wishes. States must carefully and conscientiously consider General Assembly resolutions.

Resolutions and declarations of the General Assembly are the most important standard for the formation of international law. The UN has developed the following practice of developing international legal documents. First, a declaration is adopted on some issue (for example, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), and then, on the basis of such declarations, international treaties and conventions (two international act on Human Rights, Non-Proliferation Treaty nuclear weapons and etc.).

The General Assembly is a truly democratic representative body of sovereign states. Each member of the General Assembly, regardless of the size of the territory, population, economic and military power, has one vote. General Assembly decision on important issues are adopted by a 2/3 majority of the members of the Assembly present and voting.

The work of the General Assembly may be attended by states - not members of the UN, having permanent observers at the UN (Vatican, Switzerland) and not having them. In addition, representatives of a number of international organizations (UN specialized agencies, the OAS, the Arab League, the OAU, the EU, the CIS, etc.) also received the right to participate as observers of Palestine.

The Security Council consists of 15 members: five members of the Council are permanent (Russia, the United States, Great Britain, France and China), the remaining ten members (in the terminology of the Charter - “non-permanent”) are elected to the Council in accordance with the procedure provided for by the Charter.

Decisions on procedural matters in the Security Council are considered adopted if at least nine of any members of the Council vote for them. The main form of recommendations adopted by the Security Council is a resolution. More than 1300 of them have been accepted for more than half a century.

In the course of many years of activity of the Security Council, well-defined methods and forms of its response and influence on certain events in the world have developed. One of these methods is the condemnation by the Council of a state for unlawful acts committed by it in violation of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. For example, the Council has repeatedly condemned South Africa in its decisions for pursuing the criminal policy of apartheid. Quite often the Security Council resorted to such a method as stating a political fact, one situation or another. This is precisely how the situation in southern Africa, created by Pretoria's aggressive actions against the "front-line" African states, was defined in numerous resolutions of the Security Council.

The most commonly used technique, the appeal to states, is the Security Council's way of settling conflicts. He has repeatedly called for a cessation of hostilities, respect for the ceasefire, withdrawal of troops, and so on. In the course of considering a complex of problems of the Yugoslav settlement, the Iran-Iraq conflict, the situation in Angola, Georgia, Tajikistan and along the Tajik-Afghan border.

The Security Council often performed the functions of reconciliation of the parties in disputes and conflicts. To this end, the Council has appointed mediators, especially often instructing the Secretary-General or his representative to perform the functions of providing good offices, mediation and conciliation of the parties. These functions were used by the Council when considering the Palestinian and Kashmir issues, the situation in the former Yugoslavia, and others.

Since 1948 The Security Council began to resort to such a method as sending groups of military observers and monitoring missions to observe the implementation of the requirements for a ceasefire, the terms of the Io truce agreements, a political settlement, etc. Until 1973, military observers were recruited almost exclusively from among the citizens of Western countries. For the first time in 1973 Soviet observer officers were included in the Palestine Truce Supervision Authority (UNTSO), which still performs useful functions in the Middle East. Observation missions were also sent to Lebanon (UNOGIL), India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), Uganda and Rwanda (UNOMUR), El Salvador (MONEO), Tajikistan (UNMOT) and others.

An important sphere of activity of the Security Council is its interaction with regional organizations. Such cooperation takes place in various forms, including through regular consultations, the provision of diplomatic support through which a particular regional organization can take part in UN peacekeeping activities (for example, CFE in Albania), through the parallel operational deployment of peacekeeping missions (for example, the UN Observation Mission in Liberia ( UNOMIL) has been deployed with the Ecological Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Monitoring Team (ECOMOG) in Liberia, while the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) is operating in cooperation with peacekeeping forces CIS in Georgia) and through joint operations (for example, the UN-OAS International Civilian Mission in Haiti (ICMG).

The Security Council plays an important role in early detection and identification of emerging conflicts. In recent years, there has been an urgent need to create early warning systems for the emergence of hotbeds of tension, the danger of a nuclear accident, environmental threats, mass movements of the population, natural disasters, the threat of famine and the spread of diseases and epidemics. This kind of information could be used to assess whether there was a threat to peace and to analyze what actions could be taken by the United Nations to reduce it and what preventive actions and measures could be taken by the Security Council and other UN bodies.

One of the tools most frequently used by the Security Council is preventive diplomacy. Preventive diplomacy is an action of a political, diplomatic, international, legal and other nature, aimed at preventing the emergence of disputes and disagreements between the parties, preventing them from escalating into conflicts and limiting the scale of conflicts after they arise. Cooperating with the Secretary General, the Council actively used the means of preventive diplomacy, provided conditions for reconciliation, mediation, good offices, establishment and other preventive actions.

The most commonly used tool, especially in recent times, are peacekeeping operations (PKO), which have been carried out only through the UN since 1948. more than 50. Peacekeeping operation - a set of actions taken with the consent of the conflicting parties, interconnected in goals, tasks, place and time, with the participation of impartial military, police and civilian personnel in support of efforts to stabilize the situation in areas of potential or existing conflicts, carried out in accordance with mandated by the Security Council or regional organizations and aimed at creating conditions conducive to a political settlement of the conflict and the maintenance or restoration of international peace and security.

The Security Council has very often, especially in recent years, used such an instrument as sanctions - economic, political, diplomatic, financial and other coercive measures not related to the use of armed forces, carried out by decision of the Security Council in order to induce the state concerned to stop or refrain from actions. Constituting a threat to the peace, a breach of the peace, or an act of aggression.

A number of subsidiary bodies have been established by the Council to oversee the implementation of the sanctions, such as the Board of Governors of the Compensation Commission and the Special Commission on the Situation between Iraq and Kuwait, the Yugoslav, Libya, Somalia, Angola, Haiti, Rwanda, Liberia, Sudan, Sierra Leone and others. The results of the Council's application of sanctions against them are far from unambiguous. Thus, the economic sanctions adopted by the Council against the racist regime of Southern Rhodesia contributed to a certain extent to the elimination of the racist regime, the achievement of independence by the people of Zimbabwe, and the accession of this country in 1980. to UN members. The value of sanctions as a means of settling conflicts was also clearly manifested in the settlement of other conflicts, for example, in Angola, Haiti, and South Africa. At the same time, it must be admitted that in most cases the application of sanctions was associated with a number of negative consequences for the population and economy of the countries that were the objects of sanctions and resulted in huge material and financial damage to neighboring and third states that comply with the decisions of the Sanctions Council.

According to the UN Charter, the Security Council must function continuously and take "prompt and effective" action on behalf of the members of the UN. To this end, each member of the Security Council must at all times be represented at the seat of the United Nations. According to the rules of procedure, the interval between meetings of the Security Council should not exceed 14 days, although in practice this rule was not always respected. On average, the Security Council held 77 formal meetings per year.

The Economic and Social Council operates under the general direction of the General Assembly and coordinates the activities of the United Nations and the institutions of its system in the economic and social fields. As the main forum for discussing international economic and social issues and making policy recommendations in these areas, the Council plays an important role in strengthening international development cooperation. It also consults with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), thus maintaining a vital link between the United Nations and civil society.

The Council consists of 54 members elected by the General Assembly for three years. The Council meets periodically throughout the year, meeting in July for its substantive session, during which critical economic, social and humanitarian issues are discussed at a high-level meeting.

The subsidiary bodies of the Council meet regularly and report to it. For example, the Commission on Human Rights monitors the observance of human rights in all countries of the world. Other bodies deal with social development, the status of women, crime prevention, drug control and sustainable development. Five regional commissions promote economic development and cooperation in their regions.

The Trusteeship Council was established to provide international oversight of the 11 Trust Territories administered by the seven Member States, and to ensure that their governments make the necessary efforts to prepare these Territories for self-government or independence. By 1994, all of the Trust Territories had become self-governing or independent, either as independent states or by joining neighboring independent states. The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (Palau), administered by the United States, was the last to go into self-government and became the 185th Member State of the United Nations.

As the work of the Trusteeship Council has come to an end, it currently consists of five permanent members Security Council. Its rules of procedure have been amended accordingly to enable it to meet only when the circumstances so require.

International Court

The International Court of Justice - also known as the World Court - is the main judicial organ of the United Nations. Its 15 judges are elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council, who vote independently and simultaneously. The International Court of Justice deals with the settlement of disputes between states on the basis of the voluntary participation of the states concerned. If a State agrees to take part in the proceedings, it is bound by the decision of the Court. The Court also prepares advisory opinions for the United Nations and its specialized agencies.

Secretariat

The Secretariat carries out the operational and administrative work of the United Nations in accordance with the instructions of the General Assembly, the Security Council and other bodies. It is headed by the Secretary General, who provides general administrative direction.

The Secretariat is made up of departments and offices with approximately 7,500 regular budget funded staff representing 170 countries worldwide. In addition to United Nations Headquarters in New York, there are United Nations offices in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi and other duty stations.

United Nations system

International Monetary Fund, World Bank and 13 others independent organizations called " specialized agencies, are linked to the United Nations through their respective cooperation agreements. These institutions, including the World Organization health and the International Organization civil aviation, are independent bodies established on the basis of intergovernmental agreements. They are entrusted with a wide range of international functions in the economic, social and cultural fields, as well as in the field of education, health and others. Some of them, for example international organization labor and the Universal Postal Union, older than the United Nations itself.

In addition, a number of United Nations offices, programs and funds, such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Children's Fund United Nations Organization (UNICEF), - is engaged in improving the social and economic situation of people in all regions of the world. They are accountable to the General Assembly or the Economic and Social Council.

All of these organizations have their own governing bodies, budgets and secretariats. Together with the United Nations, they constitute united family, or the United Nations system. Together they provide technical assistance and other forms of practical assistance in virtually all economic and social fields.

Outline of a lesson in social studies in grade 10 topic:

"Global Threat" international terrorism».

Textbook edited by L.N. Bogolyubov, A.Yu. Lazebnikova, M.Yu. Telyukina, M. Enlightenment 2014

The purpose and objectives of the lesson: 1. Awareness of the danger of this threat. 2. What is the difference between the concepts of "terror" and "terrorism"? 3. Why is terrorism becoming a global threat to humanity? 4. What are the origins and causes of terrorism? 5. Raising a negative attitude towards radicalism, violence, terror.

During the classes

Outline of a new topic.

1.International terrorism: concept and signs.

In the 20th century, many scientists considered terrorism as a kind of crime along with the trade in weapons and drugs. Now we see that international terrorism is a special type of the most dangerous criminal activity.

AT federal law RF "On countering terrorism" defines terrorism as the ideology of violence and the practice of intimidating the population "in order to influence the adoption of decisions by public authorities, local governments or international organizations."

Terror is a method of governing society based on intimidation. International terrorism is anti-state activity that is carried out in modern conditions organizations seeking to achieve political goals. International terrorism is a violent act in which the victims are not only politicians, but also ordinary citizens of the country, since for terrorists human life is of no value. The number of terrorist attacks is on the rise. The Middle East, Russia, the USA, India, European countries and other states have been subjected to terrorist attacks more than once. AT Russian Federation From 1995 to 2006, there were 55 terrorist attacks, more than 20,000 people were injured, 1,802 people died. These statistics include the victims of apartment bombings in Buynaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk on September 4-16, 1999, the hostage-taking in the Moscow Theater Center on Dubrovka in October 2002, and in School No. 1 in Beslan on September 1, 2004.

On September 11, 2001, the tower of the World shopping center. 2977 people became victims.

2.Globalization and international terrorism.

The process of transition to the information society increases the uneven development of countries. The gap in the level of socio-economic development of the countries of the "North" and "South" is increasing. Scientific and technological progress poses a threat to humanity of global catastrophes - nuclear, environmental, informational, etc.

Contradictions in the ethno-national and religious spheres are aggravated. The conflict of values ​​of different civilizations is aggravated.

Scientific and technical progress contributed to the emergence of "technological" terrorism: biological, informational, aimed at state information resources and secret information. An exceptional danger is nuclear terrorism (the desire to acquire weapons mass destruction). Many terrorist attacks are carried out using Vehicle, suicide bombers are used as performers, which indicates the suppression of consciousness and the manipulation of people's behavior.

The financial sources of terrorism are the income of the shadow economy (drug trade, arms trade, prostitution…). Separate corrupt states, individuals, organizations often use terror as a tool to achieve their goals).

3. The ideology of violence and international terrorism.

Modern ideology uses extreme extremist views and teachings, both left (radicalism) and right (fundamentalism). Terrorists use such ideological means as religious and ethnic values, mythologizing and creating the image of the enemy. The leaders of terrorist organizations recruit their supporters with the help of the image of a "just society", which is "prevented by enemies" from developing. Often, even educated, outwardly quite prosperous young people, but most often inexperienced hotheads, fall into the ranks of terrorists. One of the reasons that prompted people to terrorism is the crisis of cultural, moral and humanistic values, national intolerance, religious fanaticism, separatist sentiments.

4. Countering international terrorism.

One of the coordinators of anti-terrorist activities at the international level is the UN, which develops legal norms, coordinates anti-terrorist activities and participates in the fight against terror. In 2008, 192 UN member states adopted the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. In 2012, 16 agreements against various kinds terrorist activities. It is important to solve socio-economic problems in a timely manner, reduce the level of socio-political tension, and develop the economy.

It is necessary for every person to realize humanistic values: rejection of violence, striving to solve social problems through dialogue and compromise.

New concepts:

North-South relations, radicalism, fundamentalism.

Studying the document “From the report Secretary General United Nations Kofi Annan "Unity in the fight against terrorism: recommendations for a global counter-terrorism strategy" 2006 p.98-99

Questions and tasks for the document.

1. What UN principles in relation to global terrorism does the document proclaim? 2. What role can the media take in countering terrorism? 3. Why international terrorism is one of the most serious threats international peace and security?

From the heading "Thoughts of the Wise" we will analyze the meaning of the statement of the French educator Denis Diderot "From fanaticism to barbarism is one step." Why do extreme ideas sooner or later lead to the belief in the possibility or necessity of violence for the realization of one's ideas?

Questions to fix the topic:

1. Define international terrorism and list its main features.

2. Which of the signs of international terrorism do you consider the most important and why?

3. How are globalization and the emergence of international terrorism connected? 4. In what forms does technological terrorism manifest itself?

5. Name the financial sources of international terrorism. 6. Why is the ideology of violence dangerous?

7. Find the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy document on the UN Fights Terrorism website. What areas of combating terrorism are named in it?

8. How to counteract international terrorism at the domestic level?

HomeworkP.9 pp. 93-100. Complete the tasks on page 100.

Write an essay on the topic "Ideology and international terrorism."

Learn the basic concepts, give their definitions.

§ 9. The global threat of international terrorism (end)

Practical Conclusions

1. Modern man should be aware of the problem of international terrorism as one of the global threats to the modern world.

2. International terrorism uses the achievements of scientific and technical progress, Information Technology, psychological manipulation to influence youth and recruit supporters.

3. In the event of a terrorist threat, instructions must be strictly followed government agencies and the people who represent them. For self-defense, follow the recommendations that you received in the Fundamentals of Life Safety (OBZh) course.

Document

From the report of the UN Secretary-General K. Annan "Unity in the fight against terrorism: recommendations for a global counter-terrorism strategy." 2006

The United Nations must proclaim a clear, principled and undeniable message that terrorism is unacceptable. Terrorists should never be allowed to create a pretext for their actions. Whatever cause they say they stand for, whatever grievances they say they respond to, terrorism cannot be justified. In this sense, the United Nations should not give up its position of moral superiority.

Groups resort to terrorist tactics because they believe that these tactics are effective and that a large number of people, or at least those on whose behalf they act, will approve of their actions. Therefore, our main task is to reduce the attractiveness of terrorism to those who might support it. In order to limit who might resort to terrorism, we must make it absolutely clear that no case, no matter how just, can justify terrorism. This also applies to the legitimate struggle of peoples for self-determination. Even this fundamental right, as defined in the Charter of the United Nations, does not justify the deliberate killing or maiming of civilians...

At the 2005 World Summit, UN member states united for the first time to strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, carried out by whomever, wherever and for whatever purpose, as it is one of the most serious threats to international peace and security .

Terrorists need the means to carry out their attacks. Terrorists need to receive and transfer funds, acquire weapons, recruit and train personnel, and maintain communications, in particular through the Internet. They seek unhindered access to their intended targets and increasingly expect more results - in terms of both death toll and media coverage. mass media. Denying them access to these assets and targets can help prevent future attacks.

Questions and tasks for the document

1. What UN principles in relation to global terrorism does the document proclaim? 2. What role can the media take in countering terrorism? 3. Explain why international terrorism is one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.

Questions for self-examination

1. Define international terrorism and list its main features. 2. Which of the signs of international terrorism do you consider the main one and why? 3. How are globalization and the emergence of international terrorism connected? 4. In what forms does technological terrorism manifest itself? 5. Name the financial sources of international terrorism. 6. Why is the ideology of violence dangerous? 7. Search the UN Fights Terrorism website (www.un.org) for the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy document. What areas of combating terrorism are named in it? 8. How to counteract international terrorism at the domestic level?

Tasks

1. Sometimes international terrorism is called "point war". Does this characterization correspond to the essence of the phenomenon?

2. Refute the notion that international terrorism acts in defense of oppressed peoples.

3. Opening the 65th session of the UN General Assembly, its President J. Deiss said: “We want to express our sympathy to all the victims of terrorist acts who died ... and our solidarity with them. We want to express our indignation at the cowardice of terrorism, to condemn it firmly and categorically, to reaffirm our readiness to fight against it and seek the punishment of those responsible.” Why terrorism can be called cowardice?

4. Write an essay on the topic "Ideology and International Terrorism".

Thoughts of the wise

"From fanaticism to barbarism is one step."

D. Diderot (1713-1784),
french educator