80 years on from the creation of the United Nations during WWII, this book offers the first international history of its establishment. Often thought as the brainchild of the United States, Andrew Erhardt shows that it was instead the result of international collaboration between a number of nation states, non-government organizations and individuals determined to build a world organization that might keep the peace in a war-torn world.

As scholars, analysts and leading statesmen question whether the UN, and international organizations more broadly, remain fit for purpose in our 21st century world, Creating the United Nations takes us back to the beginning, to understand its original purpose, genesis and ultimate design. Only with this historical understanding – one that shines light on the central as well as the forgotten voices – can we begin to discuss how the United Nations might be reformed, to assess whether new forms of regional and international organisation are needed to address recurrent and new challenges, and to examine how such systems might be brought into existence.