Credit:UN Photo/Mark Garten

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in the United States believe the United Nations (UN) is still an important international body, according to a poll by Zogby Interactive released by UPI. 52.8 per cent of respondents think the UN is needed now more than ever, while 41.1 per cent think it has lost relevancy.

The UN was established in 1945 and includes virtually every internationally recognized independent state. The organization describes itself as a "global association of governments facilitating cooperation in international law, security, economic development, and social equity."

The UN Security Council is in charge of maintaining peace and security between nations, issuing specific resolutions that governments must adhere to under the terms of the UN Charter. The internal organ currently has five permanent members—Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States—as well as 10 non-permanent members who are chosen for two-year terms.

Relations between the U.S. and the UN have been notoriously strained in the past few years, especially following the UN's rejection of the military campaign to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in 2003, led by the U.S. and Britain.

In December 2006, in his last speech before leaving his post as UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan referred to American foreign policy, saying, "As (former U.S. president Harry) Truman said, 'The responsibility of the great states is to serve and not dominate the peoples of the world.' He believed strongly that henceforth security must be collective and indivisible. That was why, for instance, that he insisted when faced with aggression by North Korea against the South in 1950, on bringing the issue to the United Nations. Against such threats as these, no nation can make itself secure by seeking supremacy over all others."

On Jul. 17, U.S. president George W. Bush met with current UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, and declared: "One of the things I briefed the secretary on was my views about extremism and these radicals that will do anything to disrupt the goals set by the United Nations and/or disrupt the advance of democracy in peaceful societies."

Polling Data

Do you think the United Nations (UN) is needed now more than ever, or has the world body lost its relevancy and influence in world affairs?

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