As outlined in the Preamble of the UN Charter, the United Nations was created "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind." The Security Council is the main organ responsible for maintaining international peace and security although other organs such as the General Assembly and the Secretariat play an important role in making recommendations and assisting in the resolution of armed conflicts.

Since its founding in 1945, the UN has been a witness and catalyst to an extraordinary transition in global relations. It grew out of the ruins of the Second World War and endured through the years clouded by nuclear threat during the Cold War and numerous regional conflicts.

Today peace and security are no longer viewed only in terms of the absence of military conflict. The common interests of all people are also seen to be affected by poverty, hunger, environmental degradation, weak democratic institutions and human rights violations which are often at the heart of national and international tensions.

In 2004, a high-level panel formed by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan identified six clusters that threaten peace and security today:

• Economic and social threats, including poverty, infectious diseases and environmental degradation;
• Inter-State conflict;
• Internal conflict, including civil war, genocide and other large -scale atrocities;
• Nuclear, radiological, chemical and biological weapons;
• Terrorism; and,
• Transnational organized crime

The cluster on poverty underscores that threats to peace and security occur when there is widespread poverty. Extreme poverty threatens people's well-being directly but also provides the breeding ground for other threats.

Peace and security is also threatened when democratic institutions are weak or non-existent. The fact that peace and security is dependent upon having strong democratic institutions underscores the important link between peace and security and the rule of law. The UN has worked hard to strengthen democratic institutions in more than 50 countries. Today more governments have been chosen through free elections than any other time in history.

Peacekeeping

What is peacekeeping?

United Nations Peacekeeping helps countries torn by conflict create conditions for lasting peace.

UN peacekeepers are often referred to as the "blue helmets" because of the bright blue helmets that they are required to wear. They provide security and support countries make the difficult, early transition from conflict to peace.

Video: Actor George Clooney speaks of UN Peacekeepers

UN Peacekeeping is guided by three basic principles:

• Consent of the parties;
• Impartiality;
• Non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate.

Map of UN peacekeeping operations currently deployed around the world

Today's peacekeeping operations are called upon not only to maintain peace and security, but also to facilitate the political process, protect civilians, assist in the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants; support the organization of elections, protect and promote human rights and assist in restoring the rule of law.

Success is never guaranteed, because UN Peacekeeping almost by definition goes to the most physically and politically difficult environments.

The troops, police and civilians who participate in peacekeeping operations are provided and financed by Member States. UN Peacekeepers are now deployed around the world in record numbers. Increased demand has placed huge strains on UN resources and on Member's States' ability to provide funds, troops and equipment.

Promoting Peaceful, Political Solutions to Conflict

Political issues are at the root of many conflicts, so political solutions are needed to resolve them. Dialogue and compromise are a better alternative to violence. By taking action at an early stage, the United Nations and its partners can prevent disputes and crises from escalating. The United Nations employs the political tools of diplomacy and mediation to help nations prevent and resolve conflicts peacefully and to avert the suffering and destruction of war.

United Nations envoys are dispatched to areas of tension around the world to assist in defusing crises and brokering negotiated settlements to conflicts. Civilian-led political missions are deployed to the field with mandates to encourage dialogue and cooperation within and between nations, or to promote reconciliation and democratic governance in societies rebuilding after civil wars. The work of the United Nations to help credible elections around the world also contributes to promoting peace and preventing conflict.

Peacebuilding

Peacebuilding refers to efforts to assist countries and regions that have been torn apart by war to make the transition from war to peace. Once fighting has ended, countries often require assistance rebuilding state institutions responsible for maintaining law and order (for example, training a new police force), health, education and other services disrupted by war. It may also include activities such as disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating soldiers, supervising elections and reintegrating refugees. At the heart of peacebuilding is an attempt to build a new state that will have the capacity to manage disputes peacefully, protect its civilians and ensure respect for human rights.

Peacebuilding has played a prominent role in United Nations operations in Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mozambique, Liberia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, and Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor).

Disarmament

In 2010, world military expenditures exceeded some $1.5 trillion. The need for a culture of peace and for significant arms reduction worldwide has never been greater. And this applies to all classes of weapons.

On the danger of nuclear weapons, Albert Einstein reportedly said: "I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

But the human and material cost of conventional weapons is also extreme. The legal trade in small arms and weapons exceeds $4 billion a year. The illicit trade is estimated at $1 billion. And such conventional weapons as landmines take an toll on life and limb that continues for years after the conflicts that spawned them are finished.

Since the birth of the United Nations, the goals of multilateral disarmament and arms limitation have been deemed central to the maintenance of international peace and security. These goals range from reducing and eventually eliminating nuclear weapons, destroying chemical weapons and strengthening the prohibition against biological weapons, to halting the proliferation of landmines, small arms and light weapons.

These efforts are supported by a number of key UN instruments. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the most universal of all multilateral disarmament treaties, came into force in 1970. The Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force in 1997, the Biological Weapons Convention in 1975. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was adopted in 1996, however it has not yet entered into force. The 1997 Mine-Ban Convention came into force in 1999.

The General Assembly and the Security Council address disarmament-related issues on a continuing basis. Some UN bodies are dedicated exclusively to disarmament. Among them is the Conference on Disarmament. The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) implements the decisions of the General Assembly on disarmament matters. At the local level, UN peacekeepers often work to implement specific disarmament agreements between warring parties.

Countering Terrorism

Almost no week goes by without an act of terrorism taking place somewhere in the world, indiscriminately affecting innocent people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Countering terrorism is in the interest of all nations.

There are a number of different international treaties and other forms of legal instruments dealing with particular types of terrorist activities which have been elaborated within the framework of the United Nations system. Member States coordinate their efforts to counter terrorism through the General Assembly and the Security Council. A number of programmes, offices and agencies of the United Nations system are engaged in specific activities against terrorism.

To consolidate and strengthen these activities, Member States in September 2006 agreed on a global strategy to counter terrorism. The Strategy marks the first time that all Member States of the United Nations have agreed to a common strategic and operational framework to fight terrorism. The Strategy forms a basis for a concrete plan of action: to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism; to prevent and combat terrorism; to take measures to build state capacity to fight terrorism; to strengthen the role of the United Nations in combating terrorism; and to ensure the respect of human rights while countering terrorism.