October 24 marked the 70th birthday of the United Nations. The U.N. Charter came into effect when ratified by a majority of the 50 original signatories and the five permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States). The ratification process, like the U.N. itself, combined hope for a better future with a large membership and power politics. Although the U.N. is not a perfect institution, it provides enormous net benefits to the world and to the United States.

Created in the shadow of the Second World War, the purpose of the United Nations was to prevent war and sow the seeds of peace. Speaking at the conclusion of the convention that drafted the U.N. Charter in San Francisco in 1945, President Harry S Truman stressed, “Experience has shown how deeply the seeds of war are planted by economic rivalry and by social injustice. The charter recognizes this fact for it has provided for economic and social cooperation as well. It has provided for this cooperation as part of the very heart of the entire compact.”