My guess is that you know the United Nations primarily through its peacekeeping operations, and especially for the few that did not achieve their goals rather than the many that did help war-torn countries regain the path of peace. You probably know about our work to protect refugees, vaccinate children and deliver food and shelter to the victims of natural and man-made disasters. As long as conflict, deprivation and repression plague the human community, that work will continue, with or without globalization. But globalization generates a host of new and urgent demands. Towns and villages have their planning boards, fire departments and municipal services.
Nations have their legislatures and judicial bodies.
But there is a large and growing gap between the local and the global. To bridge it, to meet global problems and threats, our interdependent world also needs institutions, mechanisms and rules. More and more, the challenges we face cannot be addressed by any single nation, no matter how powerful, acting alone. It is this awareness that underpins the cooperation that is undertaken at the United Nations. The Organization has no independent military capability, and very modest funds.