The history and role of the UN is rich, but I'd guess the divide in our impressions about them and the NWO boils down to whether and to what degree one chooses to believe in an "accidental view of history" (as taught in schools), or a "conspiratorial view of history".
I can point you to this online book which pretty well represents a conspiatorial view of history, and where we're headed. I don't vouch for it 100% nor have I read all of it-- but what I have read is fairly erudite and well sourced, and it overlaps greatly with much of what I've been learning about and am inclined to believe. My eyes tend to glaze over in religious discussions, but wrt the "religion" of TPTB/NWO cabal, even I've warmed up to the notion that TPTB are indeed devil (Lucifer) worshippers. It's a rich subject but little else can explain their inhumanity, rampant pedophilia etc.
Here's the book's outline, follow the link for hotlinks to the full text of each chapter:
The Police State Road MapContents
Preface
Part 1
Three Hundred Trillion Dollars and Counting
Chapter 1 MONEY
1.1 The Money Magicians
1.2 The Banking Cartel
Chapter 2 THE GREAT TRUST
2.1 The Military-Industrial Complex
2.2 Five Monopolies
2.3 Who Owns the Stock?
2.4 Who Owns the Media?
Chapter 3 THE GREAT TRUST AND WESTERN FOREIGN POLICY
3.1 International Relations Policy Groups
3.2 Tax Exempt Foundations and Charity Funding
3.3 The IMF and World Bank
3.4 Control over Western Governments
Chapter 4 COMMUNISM AND FASCISM
4.1 The Heart of the Issue: Power and Property Rights
4.2 Lessons From History
Chapter 5 LESSER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
5.1 Empowering Third World Governments
5.2 The Sell Off
Chapter 6 PRIVATISATION IN THE WEST
6.1 Public Private Partnership
6.2 The Policy Comes from the Top
Part 2
The Art of Killing Quietly
Chapter 7 THE ECONOMY
7.1 The Function of Poverty
7.2 Monetary and Fiscal Policy
7.3 Free Trade Agreements
7.4 Open Borders
7.5 The Environmental Movement
7.6 War as a Means of Planned Waste
7.7 Criminalizing Society
7.8 Disease
Chapter 8 THE NEW POLITICAL SYSTEM
8.1 The Future of Democracy
8.2 Banning Opposition to World Government
8.3 Creating Regional Governments
8.4 World Government or World War Three
Chapter 9 THE WAR ON TERROR
9.1 CIA/MI6/Mossad/ISI: The Global Terrorist Network
9.2 Proliferating Weapons of Mass Destruction
Chapter 10 MARTIAL LAW
10.1 Martial Law Legislation
10.2 Foreign Troops
10.3 Gun Confiscation
Chapter 11 THE LEGAL APPARATUS OF TOTALITARIANISM
11.1 Integration
11.2 UK Mental Health Laws
11.3 Abolition of Juries and Arbitrary Detention
11.4 Expanding the Definition of 'Terrorism'
11.5 Surveillance Legislation
11.6 The Ruling Class Above the Law
Chapter 12 THE TECHNOLOGICAL APPARATUS OF TOTALITARIANISM
12.1 ID Cards and Biometric Identification
12.2 Computer Databases
12.3 DNA Databases
12.4 Implantable Microchips
12.5 Radio Frequency Identification
12.6 Car and Mobile Phone Tracking
12.7 Surveillance Cameras
12.8 Black Budget Funding
Chapter 13 RELIGION AND THE FAMILY
13.1 Elitism and the New Age Religion
13.2 Caught in the Act at Bohemian Grove
13.3 Targeting the Young
13.4 Banning Monotheism
13.5 Enforcing Love of Big Brother
13.6 Sexual Abuse
Chapter 14 POPULATION CONTROL
14.1 Funding Population Control
14.2 Aims and Methods
14.3 Environmentalism
14.4 Public Health Policy and Western Medicine
14.5 Cancer
14.6 Vaccination
14.7 Mind Control Technology
14.8 Junk Food
14.9 Fluoride
14.10 Germ Warfare
14.11 Depleted Uranium
14.12 Forced Abortion and Sterilization
14.13 GM Food
14.14 Weather Modification
14.15 Nanotechnology
14.16 Eugenics
Conclusion