Roosevelt policy supported a new international organization that would be much more effective than the old League of Nations, and avoid its flaws. He successfully sponsored the formation of the United Nations. United Nations The United States was a major force in establishing the United Nations in 1945, hosting a meeting of fifty nations in San Francisco. Avoiding the rancorous debates of 1919, where there was no veto, the US and the Soviet Union, as well as Britain, France and China, became permanent members of the Security Council with veto power. The idea of the U.N. was to promote world peace through consensus among nations, with boycotts, sanctions and even military power exercised by the Security Council. It depended on member governments for funds and had difficulty funding its budget. In 2009, its $5 billion budget was funded using a complex formula based on GDP; the U.S. contributed 20% in 2009. However, the United Nations' vision of peace soon became jeopardized as the international structure was rebalanced with the development and testing of nuclear weapons by major powers. South in foreign policy The South always had a strong, aggressive interest in foreign affairs, especially regarding expansion to the Southwest and the importance of foreign markets for Southern exports of cotton, tobacco and oil. All the southern colonies supported the American Revolution, with Virginia taking a leading position. The South generally supported the War of 1812, in sharp distinction to the strong opposition in the Northeast. Southern Democrats took the lead and support of Texas annexation, and the war with Mexico. Low tariff policy was a priority, with the partial exception of the sugar region of Louisiana. Throughout southern history, exports were the main foundation of the southern economy, starting with tobacco, rice and indigo in the colonial period. After 1800 cotton comprised the chief export of the United States . Confederates thought (mistakenly) that European need for cotton would require intervention to help the South, for “Cotton is King.”Sven Beckert, "Emancipation and empire: Reconstructing the worldwide web of cotton production in the age of the American Civil War." The American Historical Review 109.5 (2004): 1405-1438. online. Southerners calculated their need for international markets called for aggressive internationalist foreign policies. Woodrow Wilson had a strong base in the south for his foreign policy regarding World War I and the League of Nations. In the late 1930s, Southern Conservative Democrats opposed the