The UK’s Role in the Rest of the World (Edexcel GCSE Citizenship Studies): Revision Note

The United Nations

• The United Nations (UN) was created in 1945 after the Second World War to help prevent future conflict and encourage cooperation between countries

  • The United Kingdom was a founding member

• It is based in New York and today has 193 member states

The four main goals of the UN

The UN Security Council

• The UK is one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, alongside

  • the USA

  • Russia

  • France

  • China

• Each of these countries has a veto, meaning they can block any Security Council resolution

  • This gives the UK significant influence in international decision-making.

The UK’s influence at the UN

• As it has a permanent seat on the Security Council, the UK has significant diplomatic influence, even though it has less military and economic power than other leading members

  • This influence, gained through cooperation, diplomacy and reputation, is an example of soft power

• UK civil servants, experts and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also contribute to the work of many UN agencies, such as

  • the World Health Organisation (WHO)

  • UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation)

  • UNRWA, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, which is currently in the news because of its work in Gaza

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)

• NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) was created in 1949 as a mutual defence alliance

  • The UK was a founding member

• It was originally formed to protect Western countries from the Soviet Union and other communist states in Europe, which were part of the Warsaw Pact

Membership and defence commitment

• Today, NATO has 32 member countries

  • Finland joined in 2023

  • Sweden joined in 2024

• All members agree to support each other if one is attacked

  • This is known as Article 5, the core of the NATO treaty

NATO organisation

• NATO’s headquarters are in Belgium

• It has both a military structure and a political structure that work together to coordinate defence and decision-making

• In October 2024, Mark Rutte, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, became the Secretary General, the organisation’s senior political leader

NATO and recent events

• In recent years, the USA has pushed NATO members, including the UK, to increase their defence spending

• Many NATO countries have recently supported Ukraine in its conflict with Russia by providing

  • military equipment

  • financial assistance

  • training for Ukrainian forces

The Commonwealth

• The Commonwealth of Nations was created after the Second World War as countries that had once been part of the British Empire became independent

• Today it has 56 countries, and some of them have no past connection with the UK

  • The Commonwealth contains about 30% of the world’s population

  • Its members include both very rich and very poor countries, and more than 30 of them have populations below 1.5 million

• Membership is voluntary, so countries can choose whether to join

• The Commonwealth is guided by a charter, which sets out shared values such as democracy, human rights, equality and development

  • The organisation also provides education, technical support and economic help to its members

• The UK Monarch is the Head of the Commonwealth,

  • Leading the Commonwealth gives the UK a strong international role and helps it maintain influence across many different parts of the world

• This leadership also strengthens the UK’s soft power

  • It can build positive relationships, support development projects and increase its global reputation with member countries

The World Trade Organisation

• The World Trade Organisation (WTO) was created as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) after the Second World War to help countries trade fairly

• Today the WTO has 166 member countries and is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

• The UK first joined GATT in 1948

What the WTO Does

• The UK helps agree global trade rules and uses the WTO to resolve trade disputes with other countries

• WTO membership allows the UK to trade with countries worldwide on agreed terms