UN efforts have also led to the eradication of many infectious diseases; the adoption in 1982 of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, the principal framework for handling maritime disputes; and the establishment in 1988 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, whose regular reports play an important role in assessing hazards related to climate change. But the UN was unable to avert the Cold War, wars in Algeria, Vietnam, and Yugoslavia, or genocide in Cambodia and Rwanda.
联合国的努力还使人们根除了许多传染病，使人们在1982年通过了处理海事纠纷的海洋法公约（Convention on the Law of the Sea）、在1988年成立了政府间气候变化委员会（Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change，其定期报告在评估气候变化相关风险方面起着重要作用）。但联合国无法遏制冷战、阿尔及利亚战争、越南战争和南斯拉夫战争，也无法阻止柬埔寨和卢旺达的种族灭绝。