Abstract
The uselessness of the U.N. having become fairly obvious, those who thought that it would free the world from war look for explanations. The explanation for the uselessness of the League of Nations—that the United States wasn’t there—won’t wash: This time we joined. The true explanation is not acceptable to U.N. supporters: In a world of sovereign nations, no international organization can prevent war, and in a world divided into two hostile camps led by the United States and the Soviet Union, no organization containing both camps can be united. The true explanation would suggest that the whole enterprise was flawed and condemned to futility ab initio. Iooking for a more inspirational if less realistic explanation, many U.N. supporters have decided that the veto is the fatal flaw. Without it the U.N. could have lived up to the expectations they placed on it.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
General Secretary Gorbachev made the Soviet policy on this issue quite explicit in his opening speech before the 27th Congress of the Communist Party, in which he denounced “the hideous face of terrorism which its instigators try to mask with all sorts of cynical inventions. The USSR rejects terrorism in principle and is prepared to cooperate actively with other states in order to uproot it.” Mikhail Gorbachev, Political Report of the CPSU Central Committee in the 27th Party Congress (Moscow: Novosti Press Agency Publishing House, 1986), p. 87.
General Assembly Resolution, 377 A, 3 November 1950. See Chapter 2, p. 64 for further discussion.
As it was referred to at the time, at first hopefully, then sardonically.
In 1974–1975, the General Assembly passed “A Declaration and Program of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order,” and a “Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States.” The context of the times is often forgotten. In 1973 the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was formed and almost immediately the price of petroleum rose vertiginously. What was a serious problem, now half forgotten, for the industrialized economies was and still is desperate for the developing countries.
For a more complete discussion of the sources of Third World political positions, see Edward Luck and Peter Fromuth, “Anti-Americanism at the United Nations: Perception or Reality?” in Anti-Americanism in the Third World: Implications for U. S. Foreign Policy, ed. Alvin Z. Rubinstein and Donald E. Smith (New York: Praeger, 1985), pp. 219–248.
Those who doubt my assessment of the General Secretary’s uneasiness should read his address to the CPSU Central Committee. In spite of his seemingly ebullient expectations of a millennium to come, if only some administrative reforms are put into effect, it is apparent that he knows that something is dreadfully wrong and that changes must be made.
See Chapter 1, p. 6.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1987 Ernest van den Haag and John P. Conrad
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van den Haag, E., Conrad, J.P. (1987). The Veto. In: The U.N. In or Out?. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5984-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5984-3_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-306-42524-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-5984-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive