World War II resulted in an estimated 70 to 85 million deaths, making it history’s deadliest conflict. Of the casualties, roughly two-thirds were civilians, with the Soviet Union and China suffering the highest losses. Realising that, after the arrival of the atomic bomb era, a Third World War could end the planet, representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China held a conference on 21 August 1944 at the Dumbarton Oaks estate in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. They discussed the structure of a new international body, culminating in the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals.

These formed the basis for the 1945 San Francisco Conference, where the United Nations Charter was drafted, and the organisation officially began on 24 October 1945, with its first substantive meetings (General Assembly and Security Council) convening in London in January 1946.

Without going into the successes and failures of the United Nations, the cornerstone of international relations revolved around the United States-led military and economic bloc versus the Soviet Union and its allies until the 1990s. The order was never perfect, never neutral, and never totally inclusive. The mere fact that five countries were given the right of veto made the Security Council an exclusionary body and was, in effect, a continuation of the historical reality of power-based international relations.

The post–Second World War system rested on several assumptions. The first assumption was that the United States would act as a stabilising hegemon. Secondly, economic growth would reduce political conflict. Lastly, a rules-based structure could restrain raw power. However, what must be noted is that this was a Western structure that delivered relative stability and prosperity. For much of the........

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