Consisting of 192 Member States, the United Nations was founded in 1945 to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations based on the respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples; to achieve international cooperation in solving problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character; and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.

Just how successful the UN has been in maintaining these goals is covered in The A to Z of the United Nations. Author Jacques Fomerand provides a comprehensive dictionary of nearly 900 cross-referenced entries on the UN''s various committees and organizations, its leaders, terms, policies, and major events in which the UN took part. Supplementing the dictionary entries are a chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and appendixes, which include a reproduction of the UN''s Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as a list of the Member States and when they joined.