Editing United Nations (section)

=== Cold War (1947–1991) ===
[[File:Dag Hammarskjöld.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Dag Hammarskjöld]] was a particularly active secretary-general from 1953 until he died in 1961.]]
Though the UN's primary mandate was [[peacekeeping]], the division between the United States and the Soviet Union often paralysed the organization; generally allowing it to intervene only in conflicts distant from the [[Cold War]].{{sfn|Meisler|1995|p=35}} Two notable exceptions were a Security Council resolution on 7 July 1950 authorizing a [[United Nations Command|US-led coalition]] to repel the [[Korean War|North Korean invasion of South Korea]], passed in the absence of the Soviet Union,<ref name=unmilestones1941to1950 />{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=58–59}} and the signing of the [[Korean Armistice Agreement]] on 27 July 1953.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.un.org/en/sections/history/milestones-1941-1950/index.html |title=UN Milestones Korean War |website=United Nations |access-date=22 November 2018 |date=4 August 2015 |archive-date=3 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103212423/http://www.un.org/en/sections/history/milestones-1941-1950/index.html}}</ref>

On 29 November 1947, the General Assembly approved [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|resolution 181]], a proposal to partition [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]] into two states, with Jerusalem placed under a special international regime.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Admin |first=D. S. U. |date=31 October 2024 |title=General Assembly |url=https://www.un.org/unispal/data-collection/general-assembly/ |access-date=14 October 2024 |website=Question of Palestine |language=en-US}}</ref> The plan failed<ref name="186-20240719">{{Cite web |title=Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem |url=https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-sum-01-00-en.pdf |website=INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (icj-cij.org)}}</ref> and a [[1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine|civil war]] broke out in Palestine, that led to the creation of the state of [[Israel]] afterward.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/nov-29-1947-united-nations-partitions-palestine-allowing-for-creation-of-israel/ |title=Nov. 29, 1947 {{!}} U.N. Partitions Palestine, Allowing for Creation of Israel |website=The Learning Network |access-date=22 November 2018 |date=29 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122092428/https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/nov-29-1947-united-nations-partitions-palestine-allowing-for-creation-of-israel/ |archive-date=22 November 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Two years later, [[Ralph Bunche]], a UN official, negotiated [[1949 Armistice Agreements|an armistice]] to the [[1948 Palestine war|resulting conflict]], with the Security Council deciding that "an armistice shall be established in all sectors of Palestine".<ref name="186-20240719"/>{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=51–54}} On 7 November 1956, the [[United Nations Emergency Force|first UN peacekeeping force]] was established to end the [[Suez Crisis]];<ref name="unmilestones1951to1960">{{cite web |url=http://www.un.org/en/sections/history/milestones-1951-1960/index.html |title=UN Milestones 1951–1960 |website=United Nations |access-date=1 November 2017 |date=6 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026061431/http://www.un.org/en/sections/history/milestones-1951-1960/index.html |archive-date=26 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> however, the UN was unable to intervene against the Soviet Union's simultaneous invasion of [[Hungary]], following [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|the country's revolution]].{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=114}}

On 14 July 1960, the UN established the [[United Nations Operation in the Congo]] (or UNOC), the largest military force of its early decades, to bring order to [[State of Katanga|Katanga]], restoring it to the control of the [[Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)|Democratic Republic of the Congo]] by 11 May 1964.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=115–134}} While travelling to meet rebel leader [[Moise Tshombe]] during the conflict, [[Dag Hammarskjöld]], often named as one of the UN's most effective secretaries-general,{{sfn|Meisler|1995|p=76}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2007|p=60}}{{sfn|Fasulo|2004|pp=17, 20}} [[1961 Ndola United Nations DC-6 crash|died in a plane crash]]. Months later he was posthumously awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]].{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=127–128, 134}} In 1964, Hammarskjöld's successor, [[U Thant]], deployed the [[United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus|UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus]], which would become one of the UN's longest-running peacekeeping missions.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=156–157}}

With the spread of [[decolonization]] in the 1960s, the UN's membership shot up due to an influx of newly independent nations. In 1960 alone, 17 new states joined the UN, 16 of them from Africa.<ref name=unmilestones1951to1960 /> On 25 October 1971, with opposition from the United States, but with the support of many [[Third World]] nations, the [[China|People's Republic of China]] was given the Chinese seat on the Security Council in place of the [[Taiwan|Republic of China]] (also known as Taiwan). The vote was widely seen as a sign of waning American influence in the organization.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=195–197}} Third World nations organized themselves into the [[Group of 77]] under the leadership of Algeria, which briefly became a dominant power at the UN.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=208–210}} On 10 November 1975, a bloc comprising the Soviet Union and Third World nations passed [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379|a resolution]], over strenuous American and Israeli opposition, declaring [[Zionism]] to be a form of [[racism]]. The resolution was repealed on 16 December 1991, shortly after the end of the Cold War.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=204–226, 213, 220–221}}<ref>{{cite web | url=http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/761C1063530766A7052566A2005B74D1 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121206052903/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/761C1063530766A7052566A2005B74D1 | url-status=dead | archive-date=6 December 2012 | title=A/RES/3379 (XXX) of 10 November 1975}}</ref>

With an increasing Third World presence and the failure of UN mediation in conflicts in the [[Six-Day War|Middle East]], [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]], and [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965|Kashmir]], the UN increasingly shifted its attention to its secondary goals of economic development and cultural exchange.{{sfn|Meisler|1995|pp=167–168, 224–225}} By the 1970s, the UN budget for social and economic development was far greater than its peacekeeping budget.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}