Evolution of Development in the Changing Context of the United Nations

The concept of development has changed over periods of time and gained momentum particularly after the end of WWII. The establishment of the United Nations (UN) brought about a new dimension to this concept in international relations. In other words, the development then came into a concrete meaning, mostly understood as economic growth and one-sided process dominating the functioning of the UN and relations among the States during the Cold War. Although, the issue has gone through many changes and phases in the context of the UN, yet the end of the Cold War and the emergence of globalization are considered as turning points in bringing about a whole new idea, giving development a multi-dimensional meaning and becoming a multitude process under the framework of Sustainable Development which eventually led the UN to play a proactive role unlike the past. This paper tries to study and analyse the fact that how the concept of development has qualitatively changed under the UN auspices and the emergence of globalization in order to offer a better understanding of the changing role of the UN in the realization of sustainable development and future nature of international system.