The United Nations, or UN as it is commonly abbreviated, is an international organization that was established in 1945. The mission and work of the UN is guided by the purposes and principles in its founding Charter. The UN seeks to take the initiative on global issues, such as peace, security, humanitarian and health emergencies, human rights, terrorism, disarmament, gender equality, governance, food production, etc. The first four of which have special focus in Power and Revolution's version of the UN.
With 193 member states, the UN is the largest and most powerful international organization in the game, further emphasized with one of the game tabs being dedicated solely to interacting with the organization. Ingame, the UN can hold votes on international issues which can result in massive consequences in how the simulation progresses.
Resolution Vote[]
The UN can hold a vote on a resolution for a number of reasons. When a vote is planned, the player will receive a notification in the sidebar from the UN's current Secretary General giving approval for the resolution to be voted upon. The resolution is specifically voted into or against by the Security Council, a group of 15 nations.
The following 5 nations are permanent members of the UN
The 5 great victors of WW2, these nations have the largest say in any resolution vote; a resolution must not garner a single no from a permanent member should it pass. There is a single exception to this, and that is when the resolution is about removing a permanent member. (see below)
The other 10 security council nations are elected once every 2 years to the position.
Voting nations can choose to vote yes, no, or abstain from the vote. If not a single permanent member gives a no, and the grand majority vote yes, than the resolution will be passed. It should be noted that an 'abstain' from a permanent member is not treated in the same way a 'no' is; it's possible for the resolution to pass even if permanent members abstain.
Should the player be on the security council, they will receive a notification from the secretary/minister of foreign affairs on the day before the vote, asking them what vote the player's country will give. They player will receive an infographic 2 days later showcasing how the vote went down. Nations that are highlighted green have voted yes, those that are red voted no, and those that are grey chose to abstain.
Military Intervention[]
The most powerful decision the UN can make is to make a resolution in response to a pleading member state for action against another state. There are several ways this can be initiated into happening.
The most direct way this can occur is if one nation unlawfully invades another state, violating its sovereignty, an act which is in direct violation of the UN's principles. The invaded nation will almost always make a plea to the UN a few days after the conflict begin, asking for a military intervention against the belligerent. When the war is unlawful (having no approved authorization) the UN will almost always side with the invaded nation at the vote.
Another way this can be brought about is if the player has found incriminating evidence against another head of state (secret production of nukes, illegal funding of terror groups, etc.) they can choose seize the security council, present the evidence and demand a vote on military intervention. Should the evidence be concrete, it's highly likely the UN will take your side, however, suspected info will not be taken seriously by the security council.
Once military authorization is approved, member states will have free autonomy to declare war on the invading nation. Usually security council members (and with them, their allies) will take the initiative first and almost immediately following the vote. Approved military authorization most of the time will spell impending doom for the targeted nation, and should this occur to the player, it will be the beginning of a long and atrocious conflict in their nation.
Sanctions[]
Sanctions are a 'lighter' and usually more common punishment the UN can take with law breaking nations. Specifically head of states with incriminating evidence.
Sanctions are economic restrictions, or blockades one could call them, on a nation's free trade with the rest of the world. Unless the nation has managed to become completely self sufficient (a task which is nearly impossible for the AI to accomplish on their own) these will have a significant negative impact on the nation's overall economy. Smaller nations that are more reliant on free trade will indisputably suffer much more than wealthier nations.
Sanctions can be applied to a nation that a player seizes the security council to denounce (with evidence). If the player has provided significant evidence, then the UN will approve and apply sanctions on the targeted nation.
Membership Vote[]
The UN can take votes on applying new states, though this is rare as majority of the world is already a member of the organization. More likely is a vote to expel a member from the UN, which can be initiated by the UN themselves.
Should a nation reduce its humanitarian levels to dictatorial levels (ex. banning political parties, applying martial law, arresting political opponents, etc.) a vote could be initiated by the UN's security council on whether to expel the nation. In the case of a permanent member, should the member abuse its veto rights (ex. invading and annexing a nation while vetoing military intervention against themselves) can cause the security council to have a referendum in the nation's status in the UN. In the event if this kind of vote, the nation in question (even a permanent member) will have no say in the vote, and will be at the mercy of the other security members.
Should the resolution pass, the nation will be stripped completely of any powers they had in the UN and expelled from the organization.
Manipulating Votes[]
Unless the player is a permanent member, there is often very little influence their own say will have in the UN alone. The best thing the player can do to gain votes in favor of what they want is to make international meetings with security council members and attempt to influence their decision. The success of this heavily relies on the player's relationship with the other state. Should they have any, blackmail can possibly useful in this scenario.