UN turns 80 amid wave of global crises

Amid wars, global strife and massive refugee dislocations, the current global scene is overwhelmed with crises ranging from the Middle East to Ukraine and a dozen African conflicts, which rarely make the news.

- John J Metzler

The contemporary world situation in many ways resembles 1945 and the end of WWII. There's a strange deja vu of a history most people do not know or would rather forget.

From the cauldron and chaos of WWII, a new world organisation was created in San Francisco.

In April through June 1945, delegates from over 50 countries, led by the Big Five Allies of the still ongoing Second World War, assembled to form a new organisation to maintain international peace and security, promote economic development and create the framework of international law. Given that the UN was following the moribund and tragically ill-starred League of Nations, this was indeed a tall order.

The US delegation to San Francisco included then-Secretary of State Edward R Stettinius, former Secretary of State Cordell Hull, and Senators Tom Connally (D-Texas) and Arthur Vandenberg (R-Michigan), as well as Congressional and public representatives.

The San Francisco Conference grew out of various wartime meetings and commitments made by the Allies for what would emerge as a world organisation.