The United Nations
In 1945, in the wake of the destruction of World War II, the leaders of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (the U.N. Security Council) met with their counterparts from 22 nations to create the United Nations.
Read this article, which describes the many goals and activities of the United Nations, which include offering international conferences and international observances; promoting arms control and disarmament; human rights, humanitarian assistance, international development, and peacekeeping; helping broker treaties; and helping to enforce international law.
The UN in Popular Culture
The existence of the UN as an over-arching global governmental organization has prompted many ideas about world government and world democracy. The UN is also often the subject of conspiracy theories, particularly attributed to the right, who maintain international elites aim to use the UN to effect global dictatorship.
An educational activity, the Model United Nations, has grown popular in schools worldwide. Model UN programs have students simulate (usually) a body in the United Nations system, like the General Assembly, Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Economic and Finance Committee of the General Assembly, or the Executive Committee of UNICEF, to help them develop skills in debate and diplomacy.
The United Nations has been depicted in several feature films. In the 1958 movie North by Northwest, director Alfred Hitchcock wanted to film in the UN but did not receive permission; the footage was secretly taken, and UN facilities were recreated on a sound stage. The 2005 film The Interpreter, directed by Sydney Pollack, was the first movie permitted to be filmed on location inside the United Nations in an effort to broaden international awareness of the UN.