April 2005
Britannica Online School Edition unveils a new look!
Britannica Online School Edition now offers 3 levels of Elementary, Middle, and High School, to help your students quickly locate the resources best suited to their learning needs. Each homepage is geared to the appropriate level, and leads students to age-appropriate encyclopedia and magazine articles, historical timelines, and student activities and projects.

If you have not tried the new Britannica yet, give it a try today at www.new.school.eb.com! Starting this summer, the old format currently at www.school.eb.com will be replaced with these new designs. We encourage you to begin using the new site now with your students.
Amid sweeping reforms, international scandals, and Hollywood blockbusters, the United Nations has received a lot of press in recent weeks. This month's Inside Britannica brings you behind the scenes of this global institution.

Recently, Secretary-General Kofi Annan introduced a plan aimed at reforming the United Nations into an organization more capable of carrying out initiatives in development, security and human rights. These reforms face hurdles, as some of Annan's critics have called for his resignation following his activities—and those of his son—in the UN's oil-for-food program in Iraq (an inquiry cleared Annan of wrongdoing). In Hollywood news, The Interpreter, starring Nicole Kidman as a UN interpreter who overhears an assassination plot, hits theaters this week. It is the first movie production ever allowed filming access to the UN headquarters in New York.

How much do you know about the UN?

• Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, this is the only one in which all UN members are represented.

This country's application was blocked for over 20 years before officially joining the UN in 1971.

• The use of UN peacekeeping forces as a buffer between warring nations became a formalized practice during this 1956 international crisis.

• Of the 15 members of the UN Security Council, only these five have permanent seats.

This Swedish statesman served as the second secretary-general of the UN, and was posthumously awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1961.


Go behind the scenes at the United Nations with additional information on topics such as:

• The duties of the secretary-general, and the history of the position.

• The UN's principles and recommendations on arms control and disarmament.

• The controversial issues surrounding the financing of the United Nations.

• The background behind the UN's specialized agencies including the World Health Organization, UNESCO, and more.

• The UN's major role in defining, codifying, and expanding the realm of international law.


This Month's Top Searches:
steroids | Pope John Paul II
Join the UN peacekeeping forces as they help to end civil unrest in Cyprus. Watch Video

Nearly every world nation belongs to the UN. Learn more about the 191 members. View Table


Note: Videos and animations may require Quicktime, Windows Media, or Real Player.
  Britannica Helps You Cite Right! Britannica Online School Edition makes it easy to properly cite your source when you use materials for your research projects. You can find automatic citations at the bottom of every encyclopedia article, in both MLA and APA formats. Article citations are also included when you print or email an encyclopedia article. Try it now.

You can get to the citations easily by clicking the "Cite Article" button at the top of each article.
Discover America
Explore this new reference set from Britannica! This informative series leads young readers through the 50 states, celebrating the people and culture of every state with beautiful images and engaging facts.

Britannica Subscribers can order Discover America for only $499 and save $200 off the list price. Shipping & handling is $19.

Call Britannica at 1-800-621-3900 to place your order.


You can see other new print and online products in Britannica's
School and Library Catalog

During World War II, the major Allied Powers agreed to establish a new global organization to replace the failed League of Nations to help manage international affairs. This agreement was first articulated when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Atlantic Charter in August 1941. The name "United Nations" was originally used to denote the countries allied against Germany, Italy, and Japan.
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