Global Politics: What is the point of the United Nations?

This is an inquiry-based, structured and fully scaffolded lesson, examining various institutions of the UN, as well as the work of the UN as a whole, considering whether there is a purpose to the UN. The first part of the lesson considers why various global problems cannot be solved before considering the purpose and composition of the main UN bodies. Then, different institutions are considered in depth, considering whether Russia should remain on the security council, the impact of Security Council Resolutions and Sanctions, and the impact of COP conferences and UNICEF. The lesson concludes by linking the UN back to the Core Concepts of legitimacy, sovereignty, interdependence and power, as well as making a final judgement on the purpose of the UN. TOK links are included across tasks.

There are eleven tasks, with all resources provided, including reading and videos. It is very discussion-based, with some research opportunities, so it should take at least four hour-long lessons due to the details of some of the tasks. The last task gets the students to reflect on all that has been covered and answer questions linking to the core concepts of Power, Sovereignty, Interdependence and Legitimacy.

This lesson is good to go as soon as your download it, and the lesson is easily adaptable and editable as there is no branding or fancy gimmicks on the slides. Links to the videos are in the notes on the slides and are also included in the file. Relevant articles are also provided. It will transfer easily to Teams, Google or any other online format but also works as a paper lesson. The Word Doc for students to work on a PPT to guide the lesson and provoke discussion.