question_answer

  Wolfouritz was a senior official in the Department of Defense in the US (commonly called the Pentagon). He was an aggressive supporter of the invasion of Iraq. The cartoon comments on his appointment as the president of the World Bank. What does the cartoon tells us about the relationship between the World Bank and the US?

Answer:

                  The League of Nations The League of Nations was formed in 1919. The primary objective of the league was promotion of 'International co-operation, peace and security'. It had 44 members at the time of inception. The League of Nations proved to be a failure because the big powers could not settle their disputes peacefully. The League of Nations was replaced by the United Nations in 1945. The United Nations (UN) The United Nations came into existence on 24th October, 1945. It was the idea of President FD Roosevelt of America and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain to create an agency that would work for world peace. Delegates from USA, Great Britain, former USSR and China met to make a draft proposal in Washington DC, USA in October 1944. They prepared the charter of United Nations. Initially, 51 nations joined the United Nations. Now, it has 192 members. The headquarters of United Nations is in New York. The main aims of the United Nations are, to be a centre for helping nations, to keep peace throughout the world and to eliminate poverty, disease and illiteracy from the world. The principles of the United Nations are 1. All members must have sovereign equality. 2. All members must obey the charter. 3. Countries must avoid using force or threatening to use force. The Organs of the United Nations The United Nations has six main organs 1. General   Assembly   The   General   Assembly incorporates the representatives of all the member nations. It is like world Parliament. Each state has one vote, but may send five representatives. General Assembly meets at least once a year. 2. The Security Council This is the most important organ of the UN. It has 15 members. There are five permanent and 10 non-Permanent members. Five permanent members are : USA, UK, France, People's Republic of China and Russian Federation. They have the right to veto, which means if any of them votes against a popularly passed resolution it becomes ineffective. The rest of members are elected for a period of 2 years only. Security Council has primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security. The expansion of the Security Council to include 'new powers' such as India, Germany and Japan as permanent members has been suggested by various fora. 3. The International Court of Justice It is the main judicial organ of the UN and is situated at the Hague in the Netherlands. It has 15 judges from different countries who are elected for 9 years. They examine the disputes among the member nations and resolve them. They also provide legal advice to the other organs. The court remains permanently in session, except during judicial vacations. All questions are decide by majority. 4. The Secretariat The duties carried out by the Secretariat are as varied as the problems. Headquarters of the Secretariat is in New York. The Secretary-General is the administrative head and is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. 5. The   Economic   and   Social   Council (ECOSOC) The Economic and Social Council takes care of the economic and social activities of the UN. The specialised agencies of the UN like WHO and UNICEF work under its supervision. ECOSOC has 54 members. The General Assembly elects 18 members every year for the term of three years. ECOSOC serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to Member States and the United Nations system. 6. The Trusteeship Council The Trusteeship Council was formed to help countries under foreign rule to gain independence. All the trust territories became independent. The council will now meet only when it is required. Its members are China, France, Russia, UK and USA. The United Nations has succeeded in achieving its primary objective. It has prevented large scale wars in many areas. It received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for its achievements in maintaining world peace. The specialised agencies of the UN have made tremendous contribution to the economic and social development of many member countries. At present, the UN has in total seventeen specialised agencies that carry out various functions on behalf of the UN.