Consequently, international security has been a significant concern for the United Nations because the United Nations aims to ‘save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.’ For doing so, international peace and security were given the highest priority under the Charter of the United Nations, under which the Security Council was given such teeth that it was equipped to act promptly. However, to act swiftly was to be effective.
Otherwise, as one of the critics of the establishment of the United Nations wrote, ‘the new world organization cannot be very different from the old; and, no matter what the idealists say, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to ignore the United Nations or discover a more effective substitute.’ Thus, over the years, the United Nations has been mainly used by countries like the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR before 1991). When their mutual goals are served, they continue to disagree with the fifteen-member Security Council in which all the powers are vested. Still, that significant power is attached to the veto power under paragraph 19 of the Charter of the United Nations.
The United Nations came into being on 24 October 1945, when China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and most other signatories ratified the Charter. United Nations Day is celebrated on 24 October each year. The 1945 Charter of the United Nations established the subsidiary organs, including the Security Council, which was to act in line with its primary responsibility of maintenance of international peace and security according to the Charter of the United Nations. This was a consequence of the failure of the League of Nations, which had been established after the First World War in 1919.