ABSTRACT
There is perhaps no more logical place to begin discussions of specific international organizations and topic areas than the United Nations (UN) system. The UN itself serves as the framework for a number of international organizations’ regimes and has provided structure that is easily adaptable to a number of organizational and legal situations. Even membership, the most quintessential of all elements for organizations, tends to be modeled on the UN’s system of full membership of the General Assembly and more limited membership in the Security Council. Thus, the discussion of the UN system serves as the opening chapter to Section 2 of the book. Governance is the starting point due to the vital role it plays in the UN system and the systems which have adopted it.
