United Nations (Civ4)/Civilopedia

Created in 1945 to maintain international peace and security, the United Nations was the second of two laudable efforts to establish an international authority on law and human rights between the self-governing nations of the world. Headquartered in New York City, the United Nations was established at the end of World War II in response to the apparent ineffectiveness of the League of Nations to prevent another global conflict on the scale of "The War to End All Wars".
The UN was originally conceived in 1941 as the Atlantic Charter, an agreement signed between Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, but developed into a pact signed by 26 countries to try to stop the aggression of the Axis powers. In 1945, in a conference between "The Big Three", Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, the original charter was laid down.
Throughout its history the United Nations has had great success in establishing many permanent international laws on subjects from human rights, international treaties, and worldwide decolonization. Although the United Nations does not have the power to enforce decisions or compel nations to take military action, the ability to compel member nations to impose economic sanctions against countries guilty of violating security orders gives it significant power in the world stage.