What the UN, NATO, the EU and the WTO do

Grade 10 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to C. Card A, a summary in our words, written today (from the United Nations): The UN has six main bodies. The General Assembly has all 193 Member States, each with one vote, and important questions need a two-thirds majority. The Security Council has primary responsibility for international peace and security. It has 15 members, 5 permanent and 10 non-permanent, and it can impose sanctions. The International Court of Justice settles legal disputes between states and is the only main body not in New York. The Secretariat carries out the day-to-day work. The Trusteeship Council supervised 11 trust territories and suspended its work on November 1, 1994. Card B, a summary in our words, written today (from NATO): The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C. on April 4, 1949 by 12 founding members. Collective defence is at the heart of the treaty, in Article 5: an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all. The treaty is based on Article 51 of the UN Charter. Card C, a summary in our words, written today (from the World Trade Organization): The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was signed on October 30, 1947 by 23 founding members. The WTO, established on January 1, 1995 after the Uruguay Round of talks (1986 to 1994), is the only international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. It has 166 members, which together make up 98 percent of world trade.

2. 1.

   Card A summarizes the UN's main bodies. Which question can it help answer, Ari asks?

   • What each body is responsible for, such as peace and security or legal disputes
   • Whether the UN has stopped wars, since the card says the Council has responsibility for peace
   • Why states created the UN in 1945, since the card describes bodies set up at that time
   • How often the Security Council has imposed sanctions, since the card says it can impose them
3. 2.

   Card B summarizes NATO's founding treaty. What can it show, Bo asks?

   • That NATO belongs to the UN, since the treaty is based on a UN Charter article
   • That NATO has had just 12 members since 1949, since 12 founders signed
   • Whether NATO members ever fought together, since collective defence is about fighting
   • What the treaty put at its heart, collective defence, and who signed it in 1949
4. 3.

   Card C summarizes GATT and the WTO. Which question can it help answer, Esme asks?

   • Which countries are outside the WTO, since the card says its members make up 98 percent of trade
   • Whether the WTO lowered tariffs, since the card says it deals with the rules of trade
   • How the trade agreement of 1947 and the organization of 1995 compare in date and in size
   • Why GATT was replaced, since the WTO was established after the Uruguay Round of talks
5. 4.

   A student writes: "The Security Council rules the world, because it can impose sanctions." What does Card A support, Jun asks?

   • It has primary responsibility for peace and security and can impose sanctions, but not rule states
   • The student is right, since the card says the UN has the final say over each state in the world
   • The student is wrong, since just the General Assembly can act on world problems and the Council cannot
   • The student is right, since sanctions mean the Council decides each piece of UN business and the other bodies just follow

6. Use this

   Cards D to F. Card D, a summary in our words, written today (from the European Union): On May 9, 1950 the Schuman plan was announced. On April 18, 1951 six countries, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, signed the coal and steel treaty. The Treaties of Rome were signed on March 25, 1957, and the bodies were in place on January 1, 1958. The single market, with free movement of people, goods, services and money, was launched on January 1, 1993. The Maastricht Treaty, signed on February 7, 1992, officially created the European Union when it came into force on November 1, 1993. Austria, Finland and Sweden joined in 1995. The euro was introduced on January 1, 1999 in 11 countries for commercial and financial transactions. Today the EU has 27 member countries, with years of entry running from 1958 to 2013. Card E, a summary in our words, written today (from the US Department of State and the United Nations): The League of Nations was created after World War I, in 1920, as a forum for resolving international disputes, based in Geneva. The United States never joined it. World War II showed the need for a more effective organization, and the United States became a founding member of the UN. Representatives of 50 countries signed the UN Charter in San Francisco in 1945, and the UN officially began on October 24, 1945. Card F, a summary in our words, written today (from the United Nations): In 1945 some 750 million people, nearly a third of the world, lived in dependent territories. About 80 former colonies have become independent since the UN was created. The General Assembly proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris on December 10, 1948, as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and nations.

7. 5.

   A student writes: "The League of Nations failed because the United States never joined." What does Card E say, Luz asks?

   • The student is wrong, since the League had no problems before World War II
   • The student is right, since the League could not work without the United States
   • The student is right, since the UN fixed this when the United States became a founding member
   • Those are facts on the card; the card does not name the US absence as the cause
8. 6.

   Cards D and E together: what do the dates show, Milo asks?

   • The coal and steel treaty came first, since it was signed in 1951 and the UN just in 1945
   • The League and the coal and steel community had the same founders, since both followed wars
   • The EU grew out of the UN, since both began after the League of Nations
   • The UN began in 1945 and the coal and steel treaty followed in 1951, six years later

9. Use this

   Cards A to C. Card A, a summary in our words, written today (from the United Nations): The UN has six main bodies. The General Assembly has all 193 Member States, each with one vote, and important questions need a two-thirds majority. The Security Council has primary responsibility for international peace and security. It has 15 members, 5 permanent and 10 non-permanent, and it can impose sanctions. The International Court of Justice settles legal disputes between states and is the only main body not in New York. The Secretariat carries out the day-to-day work. The Trusteeship Council supervised 11 trust territories and suspended its work on November 1, 1994. Card B, a summary in our words, written today (from NATO): The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C. on April 4, 1949 by 12 founding members. Collective defence is at the heart of the treaty, in Article 5: an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all. The treaty is based on Article 51 of the UN Charter. Card C, a summary in our words, written today (from the World Trade Organization): The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was signed on October 30, 1947 by 23 founding members. The WTO, established on January 1, 1995 after the Uruguay Round of talks (1986 to 1994), is the only international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. It has 166 members, which together make up 98 percent of world trade.

10. 7.

    Cards A and B: a student says NATO is a UN body, because its treaty rests on the UN Charter. What do the cards show, Noah asks?

    • NATO is a UN body, since its founding treaty is based on Article 51 of the UN Charter itself
    • NATO replaced the Security Council in 1949, since both deal with defence and security matters
    • NATO is a separate alliance; its treaty rests on a Charter article but it is not a main UN body
    • NATO and the UN have the same members, since both began soon after the war and share a Charter
11. 8.

    Cards B and C describe two organizations. Which contrast is fair, Pia asks?

    • NATO is about defense of its members; the WTO is about rules of trade
    • NATO is bigger than the WTO, since it began earlier and its treaty came first in 1949
    • Both are about trade, since the WTO and GATT came after NATO and trade followed the war
    • The WTO is a military alliance, since it has 166 members that act together
12. 9.

    Card A says important questions need a two-thirds majority. If all 193 members vote, how many yes votes are needed, Ren asks?

    • 129 votes, since two-thirds of 193 is about 128.7 and a vote cannot be split
    • 97 votes, since more than half of 193 is a majority and a majority is what the card needs
    • 193 votes, since an important question needs each member to agree before it can pass
    • 128 votes, since two-thirds of 193 is 128 when rounded down to a whole number of votes

13. Use this

    Cards D to F. Card D, a summary in our words, written today (from the European Union): On May 9, 1950 the Schuman plan was announced. On April 18, 1951 six countries, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, signed the coal and steel treaty. The Treaties of Rome were signed on March 25, 1957, and the bodies were in place on January 1, 1958. The single market, with free movement of people, goods, services and money, was launched on January 1, 1993. The Maastricht Treaty, signed on February 7, 1992, officially created the European Union when it came into force on November 1, 1993. Austria, Finland and Sweden joined in 1995. The euro was introduced on January 1, 1999 in 11 countries for commercial and financial transactions. Today the EU has 27 member countries, with years of entry running from 1958 to 2013. Card E, a summary in our words, written today (from the US Department of State and the United Nations): The League of Nations was created after World War I, in 1920, as a forum for resolving international disputes, based in Geneva. The United States never joined it. World War II showed the need for a more effective organization, and the United States became a founding member of the UN. Representatives of 50 countries signed the UN Charter in San Francisco in 1945, and the UN officially began on October 24, 1945. Card F, a summary in our words, written today (from the United Nations): In 1945 some 750 million people, nearly a third of the world, lived in dependent territories. About 80 former colonies have become independent since the UN was created. The General Assembly proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris on December 10, 1948, as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and nations.

14. 10.

    Card D: 11 countries used the euro in 1999, and the EU has 27 members today. A student says "11 of 27." What is wrong, Zee asks?

    • It should be 11 of 6, since six countries signed the first treaty and the euro came from them
    • It should be 11 of 11, since the euro was introduced in 11 countries and they were the members
    • Nothing is wrong, since 11 and 27 both appear on Card D and both belong to the euro story
    • 27 is today's count; in 1999 the EU had fewer members, so 11 of 27 mixes dates