The United Nations in World Politics

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts, organizations, theories, and historical events related to the United Nations and its role in world politics, based on the provided lecture notes.

United Nations (UN)

An international organization playing a key role in conflict prevention, promoting legality and human rights, sustainable development, and multilateral diplomacy.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

A UN-related agency that received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for its efforts.

International Labour Organization (ILO)

A UN-related organization that received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969.

International Organization (IO) / International Intergovernmental Organization (IGO)

An organization of global scope and nearly universal membership with a broad agenda, such as the UN.

General Assembly

The central venue for multilateral diplomacy within the UN, where states address global issues.

Cold War

A period of rising geopolitical tensions after World War II that fundamentally affected the UN's operations by limiting great power cooperation.

League of Nations

The international organization created after World War I, upon whose lessons the UN Charter was built.

Peacekeeping

A UN innovation, not explicitly in its charter, involving lightly armed multinational forces to prevent and moderate hostilities between or within states.

Disarmament

The issue, restored to the UN agenda by the nuclear revolution, involving discussions and negotiations on arms control to prevent war.

Self-determination

A principle endorsed by the UN Charter, instrumental in the end of colonial rule and the independence of many new states.

Group of 77 (G-77)

A coalition formed within the UN by less developed, newly independent states of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, gaining significant voting power after 1960.

North-South issues

Issues shaped by the G-77 after 1960, primarily concerning economic and social development and the relations between developed and less developed countries.

Common heritage of mankind

A concept, proposed by Malta in 1967, asserting that resources like those on the deep seabed belong to everyone, influencing environmental law and the law of the sea.

New International Economic Order (NIEO)

A movement in the 1970s, pushed by the G-77, advocating for a significant government role in economic development and redistribution of wealth through UN declarations.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Specific objectives approved in 2000, focusing on global development targets such as poverty alleviation and reversing the spread of major diseases.

Failed states

A phenomenon in the post-Cold War era referring to states unable to provide basic governance, often contributing to humanitarian crises and increasing demands on the UN.

Multilateralism

The practice of coordinating relations among three or more states, especially in addressing complex global issues.

World Bank, IMF, WTO, G-7

Key institutions primarily responsible for international economic relations, largely operating outside the direct UN system.

Sustainable development

A concept introduced by the UN in the 1980s, emphasizing development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Globalization

The increasing worldwide integration of politics, economics, social relations, and culture, which often challenges state sovereignty by accelerating cross-border flows.

Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)

Non-state actors whose growth has been fueled by globalization and who increasingly partner with the UN to address global issues.

Global civil society

The collective sphere of nongovernmental actors, including NGOs, working to influence global politics and often collaborating with the UN.

BRICS

An acronym referring to the emerging powers of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, signifying shifts in global power dynamics.

Realist theory (Realism)

A dominant international relations theory viewing states as unitary actors defining national interests in terms of maximizing power and security within an anarchic international system.

Liberalism

An international relations theory that views states as important, but also emphasizes other actors (IGOs, NGOs, MNCs), characterizing the international system as interdependent with both cooperation and conflict.

Neoliberal institutionalists

A liberal perspective that explains cooperation as emerging from continuous interactions, where institutions help prevent cheating, reduce costs, and shape states' interests and preferences.

Constructivism

An international relations approach studying how shared beliefs, rules, organizations, and cultural practices shape the behavior, identities, and interests of states and other actors.

Global governance

Demands for rules, norms, and organizational structures to manage transboundary and interdependence problems (e.g., terrorism, environmental degradation) that states cannot solve alone.

State sovereignty

The principle affirming that each state has the exclusive right to govern all matters within its territorial jurisdiction.

Nonintervention

The principle obliging other states and international organizations not to intervene in the internal or domestic jurisdiction of a sovereign state.

Global Compact

An initiative by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1999 to foster partnerships between the UN and the private sector, including multinational corporations.

Humanitarian intervention

A growing precedent for international actions to alleviate human suffering during violent conflicts, sometimes without the consent of the 'host' country.

Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

A new norm, endorsed by the 2005 World Summit, that justifies international actions to alleviate human suffering during violent conflicts, even without state consent.

Soft power

The ability to influence through attraction and persuasion, often through cultural and moral authority, essential for leadership and inspiring followership.

Hard power

The ability to influence through military or economic coercion.