What are the achievements of the United Nations Organization?

The United
Nations (UN) has had a long and somewhat controversial history. Its supporters laud its
accomplishments. Its detractors, including the United States, have sometimes excoriated it.
Nevertheless, the UN has achieved quite a lot over the past seventy years, and it has been a
positive influence.

One achievement of the UN is that it has endured since
1945. Its predecessor, the League of Nations, failed within two decades. But the creators of the
UN learned from the League's unhappy experience and created a more robust and effective
institution.

The Cold War was an impediment to the UN's effectiveness for its
first half century. The world was divided into East and West, and agreement on any issue was
problematic. The Soviet Union frequently used its veto in the Security Council. After the Cold
War ended around 1990, the UN became more assertive and active.

In spite of
East-West divisions, the UN took an active role in both the Korean War and the Suez Crisis
(1956). Soldiers from many nations fought under the UN flag in Korea. The UN mediated the crisis
that resulted from the Anglo-French attack on Egypt in 1956.

The UN has been
active in peacekeeping operations, especially since the 1990s. The organization won the Nobel
Peace Prize for its peacekeeping efforts in 1988.

A UN climate conference in
2015 produced the Paris Agreement. Signed by nearly two hundred nations, the accord seeks to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. President Donald Trump took the United States out of the Paris
Agreement in 2017.

Today, it is hard to conceive of a world without the
UN.