UN Structure and The Three UNs – Comprehensive Study Notes

Introduction

• Context: Lecture notes based on a UN-focused slide deck (INR 4502 – International Organizations) covering UN structure, the six principal organs, budget, Security Council, ICJ, ECOSOC, Trusteeship Council, and the concept of the “Three UNs” by Weiss, Carayannis, and Jolly (2009).

• Focus: Key principles, institutional roles, procedural rules, and real-world implications for international governance and diplomacy.

Lecture Goals

• Familiarize yourself with the structure of the United Nations and its Charter.

• Understand the “three UNs” framework.

• Prepare to read Weiss, Carayannis and Jolly (2009) on the Third UN.

The UN Charter: Key Principles

• The UN Charter is the primary international treaty. Other treaties may not contradict the Charter; its obligations take precedence. For treaties between states to be recognized, they must be submitted to the UN Secretary-General.

• The UN Charter requires equal treatment of all members, but with notable privileges for permanent Security Council members.

• UN members must refrain from the use of force or the threat of force against other states. Self-defense is permitted under certain circumstances.

• The UN is prohibited from interfering in domestic matters unless there is a threat to international peace and security; civil wars fall outside the UN’s purview unless they threaten broader peace and security.

• UN aid, election monitoring, peacekeeping, and refugee assistance require the consent of member states; a country can request UN withdrawal at any time.

Structure of the United Nations

• The UN has six principal organs:

  • General Assembly (GA)

  • Security Council (SC)

  • International Court of Justice (ICJ)

  • Secretariat

  • Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

  • Trusteeship Council (historically active; now effectively defunct)

• All six were established in the original UN Charter (1945) and have defined jurisdictions and powers.

• Membership evolved from 1945 to a broader global membership; the slide deck shows a timeline/graph of membership growth (historical context).

General Assembly (GA)

• Membership: All 193 UN member states (plus a few observer entities: Palestine, the EU, the Holy See).

• Equal voting power: Each member has one vote; no weighting by power.

• Key powers:

  • Appointment of the Secretary-General.

  • Make recommendations to member states.

  • Budgetary approval.

  • Authority to authorize peacekeeping missions (though recommendations are influential, mandates can be debated and politically sensitive).

• Budget and assessments:

  • The GA approves the UN budget; assessments are collected from member states via a formula.

  • Typical budget decisions require a two-thirds majority in the GA: $ext{two-thirds} = rac{2}{3} ext{ of votes}$.

• The GA issues non-binding but influential recommendations across a broad mandate aligned with peace and development.

• GA budgetary process overview:

  • Secretary-General prepares a budget proposal.

  • Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) reviews it; ACABQ has 16 members, including major contributors; for a budget to advance, all 16 must approve.

  • The GA votes on the budget.

• Two important enforcement/financing notes:

  • The United States is always a member (by custom) and thus has de facto influence over the budget process.

  • The regular UN budget is separate from the peacekeeping budget; peacekeeping is funded through its own process due to contentiousness and budgeting concerns.

• The GA budget is funded by member contributions assessed via a formula. The largest contributor has historically funded around 22 ext{%} of the regular budget and 27 ext{%} of the peacekeeping budget. The United States is the largest contributor, and these percentages can be lower than they would be if the US were assessed under the normal formula.

• Dues and enforcement:

  • The UN has enforcement mechanisms to compel payment of dues. Members in arrears for more than two years can lose voting power in the GA, though this is not always applied.

• Case context: DRC (Congo) and dues discussion illustrate Cold War-era dynamics and debates over UN intervention and member contributions.

The UN Budgetary Process (in more detail)

• Step-by-step:

  • 1) Secretary-General prepares the budget proposal.

  • 2) The proposal goes to ACABQ (Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions).

  • 3) ACABQ reviews; its 16 members include major contributors; for a budget to advance, all 16 must approve.

  • 4) The GA votes on the budget; a two-thirds majority is required for approval (see above).

• The United States, by custom, holds a permanent position and thus a de facto veto over the budget in practice, given its influence and voting power in the GA.

• Peacekeeping budgets: Separate from the regular budget due to their contentious nature; they follow a process that mirrors the regular budget but is judged under different considerations.

• Assessment framework (2024 Scale of Assessment): based on base rates and scales per country; examples include:

  • Afghanistan: $0.006$ and $0.006$ base rate/scale.

  • Australia: around $2.031$ to 2.032 ext{%} of the regular budget.

  • Argentina: $0.692$

  • Algeria: $0.105$

  • United States: largest contributor (not explicitly shown in the excerpt) but responsible for a large share of both regular and peacekeeping budgets.

• Scale of Assessment (2024): a country’s contribution is determined by a base rate and a scale; the table lists many countries with base rates and scales (e.g., Australia with ~2.0%, Afghanistan with ~0.006%). The actual numbers illustrate the wide variety of contributions across members.

• Dues enforcement example: arrears mechanisms exist; countries can fall under voting-rights suspension if arrears exceed two years, though not uniformly applied across all cases and permanent members may be handled differently.

Security Council (SC)

• Composition: 15 members total; 5 permanent members (P5) and 10 non-permanent members (rotating regional seats).

  • Permanent members: United States, Soviet Union (now Russia), Republic of China (now People's Republic of China), France, United Kingdom.

  • Note: Charter amendments would be required to change permanent membership; in practice, changes are rare and politically sensitive.

• Passing a resolution:

  • Must receive at least 9 votes in favor (i.e., a minimum of $9 ext{ votes} = 0.60 imes 15$) and all 5 permanent members must vote in favor.

• Regional seat distribution (rotating):

  • Africa: 3 seats

  • Asia-Pacific: 2 seats

  • Latin America and the Caribbean: 2 seats

  • Eastern Europe: 1 seat

  • WEOG (Western Europe and Others Group): 2 seats

• Regional groups determine seats via various methods: alphabetical rotation, open elections, or consensus candidates.

• WEOG specifics:

  • Formed in the 1960s; Israel joined in 2000; the United States sits on WEOG as an observer rather than a full member in practice.

• P5 veto and legitimacy:

  • The five permanent members retain veto power; this shapes the Council’s ability to authorize action and respond to crises.

• Legal effect:

  • Security Council resolutions are binding on all UN member states.

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

• Function: Hears disputes between states and interprets international law.

• Standing: Only states (not individuals, NGOs, or non-state actors) have standing to bring cases before the ICJ.

• Immunity: The UN (as an organization) enjoys immunity from domestic legal actions in member states.

Secretariat

• The UN Secretariat functions as the bureaucracy of the organization.

• Structure: Composed of 19 offices, including notable components such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Office of Counter-Terrorism (OCT) [as named in the slides as OCR].

• Leadership: Led by the Secretary-General, who guides agenda-setting and peacekeeping operations.

• Current leadership (as per the slides): António Guterres (Portugal).

ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council)

• Composition: 54 members elected to three-year terms with guaranteed regional representation.

• Roles:

  • Makes recommendations to member states and to the General Assembly.

  • Conducts or commissions research and organizes conferences.

• Power: Largely ideational (soft power) due to lack of enforcement mechanisms; useful for highlighting issues, facilitating cooperation, and guiding global development discussions.

• Scope: Covers international economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and developmental matters.

Trusteeship Council

• History: The sixth organ, created to oversee decolonization of territories formerly under League of Nations mandates and Axis powers post-World War II.

• Current status: Now defunct in practice; as of 1994, no territories remain under trusteeship.

• Functionality: Very small staff; does not meet regularly with other UN bodies, though it can request a meeting if necessary.

• Future questions (as raised in the slides): What should be the future purpose of the Trusteeship Council? Possibilities include dissolution, expanded purview over issues like space, oceans, international waters, and Antarctica, or oversight of failed states.

• Changes would require amendments to the UN Charter, making reform politically difficult; hence the council remains in perpetual stasis since Palau’s independence in 1994.

Weiss, Carayannis, and Jolly (2009): The Three UNs

• Core idea: Extend Claude’s two-part conception (the state as the primary actor and the Secretariat as the second) by adding a “Third UN.”

• The Third UN:

  • An international network of NGOs, think tanks, and researchers; outsider-insiders who are officially independent of the United Nations but connected through influence and interaction.

  • The Third UN operates through advocacy, research, policy analysis, and idea generation (idea-mongering).

• Epistemic communities: The Third UN can be particularly influential in periods of uncertainty when new ideas appeal more than existing frameworks (e.g., shifts away from Keynesianism).

• Membership dynamics: Membership is fluid and contingent; people move between state roles, the Secretariat, and academia; therefore, defining who belongs is difficult.

• Qualifying members:

  • Private companies and their policy vehicles are generally excluded (focus on public good and policy influence outside pure profit motives).

  • Journalists generally do not count as part of the Third UN; however, opinion writers can count in certain contexts.

• NGO consultative status (UN system):

  • 2,870 NGOs had consultative status in 2009; by 2021, this grew to 5,591.

  • NGOs with consultative status can attend meetings and submit statements and recommendations; the list is not exhaustive because other NGOs may attend.

Connections, Implications, and Takeaways

• Structural power vs. legitimacy:

  • The UN’s formal structure concentrates power in the General Assembly and especially in the Security Council’s P5, creating a clear separation between diplomatic legitimacy (GA consensus) and enforceable action (SC resolutions).

• Non-state actors and legitimacy:

  • The Third UN concept foregrounds the increasing influence of NGOs, think tanks, and researchers in shaping ideas, norms, and policy options—even if they lack formal decision-making authority.

• Policy and budget dynamics:

  • The interdependence of budgeting, member contributions, and political influence (e.g., the US’s role in funding and in veto power) shapes UN capabilities and responsiveness.

• Ethical and practical considerations:

  • The doctrine of non-interference vs. humanitarian intervention remains a central ethical-political dilemma.

  • The question of decentralization of influence (Third UN) raises questions about accountability, transparency, and legitimacy in global governance.

• Real-world relevance:

  • The UN’s governance architecture informs debates on peacekeeping, development, human rights, and global health policy.

  • Discussion of dues, arrears, and accountability remains relevant for assessing the financial and political health of the UN system.

Key Numerical References and Formulas (LaTeX)

• General Assembly passing budget:

  • Budget requires a two-thirds majority: $ext{majority} = rac{2}{3}$ of votes.

• Security Council voting threshold:

  • Minimum votes in favor: $9$ (out of 15) and all five permanent members must vote in favor, i.e., the requirement is $9 ext{ votes} = 0.60 imes 15.$

• Relative funding shares:

  • Largest contributor funding shares: Regular budget 22 ext{%}; Peacekeeping budget 27 ext{%} (for the largest contributor).

  • These shares are stated as illustrative and can differ from the normal formula-based assessment in practice.

• 2024 Scale of Assessment (examples):

  • Afghanistan: base rate and scale around $0.006$

  • Argentina: 0.692 ext{%} of regular budget (illustrative entry)

  • Australia: around 2.031 ext{%} (illustrative entry)

• Membership scale (illustrative): General membership includes 193 member states; observer entities include Palestine, the EU, and the Holy See.

Before next class

• Discussion board post: Read Weiss, Carayannis, and Jolly (2009) – The Three UNs.

Next class

• Discussion: Integrate Weiss, Carayannis, and Jolly with the six principal organs and the broader UN governance framework.