International Organizations (UN, WTO, etc.)

International Organizations (UN, WTO, etc.)

🟢 Lite — Quick Review (1h–1d)

Rapid summary for last-minute revision before your exam.

International Organizations are treaty-based multilateral institutions where sovereign states coordinate on peace, trade, finance, health, and human rights. The United Nations (UN), founded in 1945 after WWII under a charter signed in San Francisco, has six principal organs headed by the General Assembly and the Security Council. The Security Council has 15 members — 5 permanent members (China, France, Russia, UK, US) holding veto power, and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms. The WTO, established in 1995 and headquartered in Geneva, succeeded GATT (1947) and governs global trade through the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) and national treatment principles. For LAT, remember that Pakistan is a founding UN member (1947) and a WTO member since 1995, and that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague settles inter-state legal disputes with 15 judges serving nine-year terms.

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🟡 Standard — Regular Study (2d–2mo)

Standard content for students with a few days to months.

UN Structure and Principal Organs

The UN Charter entered into force on 24 October 1945 with headquarters in New York City. The six principal organs are the General Assembly (deliberative, all 193 members, one-state-one-vote), the Security Council (peace and security), the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Trusteeship Council (suspended in 1994), the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat headed by the Secretary-General.

Voting Rules in the General Assembly

Routine matters pass by simple majority. “Important questions” — admission of new members, budget approval, peace and security recommendations — require a two-thirds majority. This distinction is a recurring MCQ trap: students often misstate which threshold applies.

Security Council and the Veto

The P5 (China, France, Russia, UK, US) each hold veto power over substantive resolutions. Any one P5 voting “no” blocks the resolution. Procedural matters are decided by an affirmative vote of nine members without veto application. This Cold War legacy is the most-cited structural flaw of the UN system.

WTO: From GATT to a Permanent Body

GATT (1947) was a treaty framework, not an organization. The WTO (1995) replaced it with a permanent institution featuring a Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) and a binding appellate process. The Ministerial Conference is the supreme body, meeting roughly every two years; the General Council handles daily operations. Decisions are taken by consensus, with voting reserved as a last resort.

IMF and World Bank (Bretton Woods Twins)

Created in 1944 at Bretton Woods, the IMF stabilizes exchange rates and provides balance-of-payments assistance, while the World Bank Group finances development projects. They remain legally distinct despite working together.

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🔴 Extended — Deep Study (3mo+)

Comprehensive coverage for students on a longer study timeline.

Specialized Agencies and the UN System

Specialized agencies — UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO, ILO, FAO, IAEA — are legally autonomous but linked to the UN through ECOSOC agreements. WHO (Geneva, 1948) leads global health coordination, including the International Health Regulations adopted after SARS. UNICEF focuses on child welfare; UNESCO on education, science, and culture. For LAT, a frequent question asks which agency handles a specific mandate — memorizing the full names and their year of establishment prevents costly swaps.

Pakistan’s Membership Profile

Pakistan co-founded the UN in 1947, joined the WTO on 1 January 1995, is a member of OIC (1969), SAARC (1985), ECO (1985), and the Commonwealth (1947). It is not a member of NATO, the EU, or OPEC. Knowing Pakistan’s specific memberships helps in negative-option MCQs.

Common Traps in LAT Questions

1. Conflating GATT (treaty, 1947) with WTO (organization, 1995).
2. Forgetting that ICJ judgments are binding but the Court has no enforcement mechanism — enforcement runs through the Security Council.
3. Assuming the UN General Assembly resolutions are binding — only Security Council resolutions under Chapter VII bind members.
4. Mixing IMF (surveillance, short-term liquidity) with World Bank (long-term development lending).

Practice Prompts

• Explain why the veto power is considered both a guarantee of great-power cooperation and a paralysis point in the UN Security Council.
• Compare GATT and the WTO on three axes: legal status, dispute settlement, and membership coverage.

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