WEEKLY SUMMARY SPECIAL REPORT UN: THE 23RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79-00927A006800050002-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 13, 2006
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: January 3, 1969
• Content Type: SUMMARY

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DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
WEEKLY SUMMARY
Special Report
UN. The 23rd General Assembly
State Department review completed Secret
N2 44
3 January 1969
No. 0351/69A
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The United Nations' 23rd General Assembly,
which adjourned on 21 December, pointed up what has
happened to the UN in the two-plus decades since
the Charter was signed. None of the major issues
of world peace was effectively acted upon by the
assembly; much of the assembly's time was taken up
with issues on which it has been hopelessly dead-
locked for years; debates on more important matters
were warped by resentments against defunct coloni-
alism and imperialism; and the assembly wrestled
ineffectively once more with its perennial problem--
the budget. Nevertheless, the 23rd session again
provided an arena for world leaders to get together
without formal invitations or agendas; the resolu-
tions passed on such questions as disarmament gave
a certain--if unmeasurable--force to "world opinion";
and the consideration given to questions of outer
space and ocean resources may indicate areas in
which the UN may be able to act effectively in the
future.
The occupation of Czecho-
slovakia, the Vietnam war, and
tensions in the Middle East dom-
inated the session and intruded
upon consideration of nearly
every issue, despite the fact
that neither Czechoslovakia nor
Vietnam was on the assembly's
agenda. Before the session
opened there was some talk about
a possible Czechoslovak agenda
item. The Western powers, how-
ever, dropped the idea when they
realized that no strongly worded
resolution would command an im-
pressive majority, and when the
Czech delegation intimated that
it would have to condemn a de-
bate on Czechoslovakia as inter-
ference in domestic matters,
something it did not want to do.
The invasion was mentioned dur-
ing the general debate by over
thirty countries, and came up
periodically at other times; but
the polemics heard in the Secu-
rity Council session called to
consider the invasion were not
repeated in the assembly.
Before the assembly session
got under way, Secretary General
Thant publicly compared the Czech
situation with US bombing in
North Vietnam. He hinted that
he would like to see Vietnam on
the agenda. The statement pro-
voked the first public protest
made by a US ambassador to the
UN in all the time Thant has
been speaking out on Vietnam, and
the matter was not taken up by
the assembly.
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The session also avoided
dealing with the Middle East,
although the parties to the Arab-
Israeli dispute rarely missed an
opportunity to air their views.
The UN's future influence in
this area, where heretofore its
role had been large, hinges pri-
marily on the dubious outcome of
the Jarring mission and on the
enforcement measures required by
an eventual settlement. In these
and other potentially explosive
areas, such as Biafra, the as-
sembly has become gun-shy, adapt-
ing to political realities while
its residual peacekeeping powers
diminish.
Progress in Disarmament
Of the major issues debated
by the assembly, the most impor-
tant was disarmament. The as-
sembly has always believed that
one of its functions is to spur
the big powers to further dis-
armament efforts. It has tradi-
tionally scrutinized their pro-
posals closely, and new ideas
are frequently floated--often
by the smaller countries--for
example, Sweden.
Several disarmament resolu-
tions were endorsed by the 23rd
General Assembly--approval of
nuclear free zones, deferment of
discussion of peaceful uses of
nuclear energy and security as-
surances until next year, and a
call to the US and USSR to begin
talks on strategic arms limita-
tion. Of some concern to the
nuclear powers was a resolution
requesting a UN report on the
supervision of peaceful nuclear
explosions, a matter that the
nuclear powers contend is the
exclusive jurisdiction of the
International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA).
The assembly debates on dis-
armament tended to underscore
the trend toward a sharper divi-
sion between the nuclear and non-
nuclear countries, a growing re-
sistance by smaller countries to
arms control measures that do not
also affect the big powers, and
the insistence of the smaller
countries on a voice in disarma-
ment matters. These sentiments
were particularly evident in the
pressures to increase the size
of the Eighteen Nation Disarma-
ment Committee and in the per-
sistent efforts to give some kind
of permanent status to 'the Non-
Nuclear Conference that preceded
the 23rd session. The lack of
enthusiasm with which some of
the smaller countries continue
to approach the nonproliferation
treaty (NPT) is another sign of
their disaffection.
Unless the demands of the
nonnuclear nations for a "bal-
anced approach" to disarmament
can be satisfied, there is some
risk that the UN's role in dis-
armament may be further impaired.
That role could still be an im-
portant one, even though the
initial hard bargaining will un-
doubtedly continue to be the
prerogatives of the superpowers.
The UN's IAEA must administer
the safeguards clauses of the
NPT; the UN might well be called
upon to perform a similar admin-
istrative role should any prog-
ress be made toward the registra-
tion of arms deliveries and sales,
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and it must presumably make some
contribution to achieving the
climate of security essential
to any progress toward general
disarmament.
Colonialism and Racism
Questions of colonialism
and racial discrimination con-
sumed, in the view of some, an
inordinate proportion of the
assembly's energies. Spain
sought support for its claim to
Gibraltar by publicizing its in-
tentions to relinquish Ifni and
Spanish Sahara. Over London's
objections, the assembly called
on Britain to negotiate "the
Rock's" return and even set a
deadline for the transfer of
sovereignty to Spain--1 October
1969. The African bloc again
pushed through resolutions con-
demning South Africa's suzerainty
over Southwest Africa and its
apartheid policies, and scoring
the white regime in Rhodesia and
the Portuguese overseas admin-
istrations.
To the black Africans, par-
ticularly, colonialism and racism
are inseparable and are implic-
itly linked to nearly every issue
taken up at the UN. Their in-
creasingly militant pursuit of
their cause during the session
brought on a crisis in interpre-
tation of the charter. The Af-
rican-led move to oust South
Africa from the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Develop-
ment (UNCTAD) because of apart-
heid was the first attempt in
the UN's history to eject a
member from a subsidiary organ
open to the entire UN membership.
Although proponents of the move
argued that the assembly's power
to establish subsidiary organs
under Article 22 of the Charter
implied the power to limit their
membership, the legal counsel to
the secretary general--with many
Western powers'in agreement--held
that expulsion would violate the
Charter's principle of sovereign
equality. Moreover, it was ar-
gued, unless the provisions on
expulsion set out in Articles 5
and 6 of the Charter--which re-
quire Security Council action--
were followed, a dangerous prec-
edent would be established.
The expulsion move was de-
feated only by invocation of the
Important Question doctrine, and
then by a margin of only four
votes. The African delegations
were encouraged by this near
success. At least one African
delegate has promised to renew
the fight each year as a sort
of African equivalent to the
issue of China's representation.
Pressures of this kind will prob-
ably increasingly recur, and
legal interpretations, finer dis-
tinctions, and principles of
effective organization will be
sacrificed unless the UN can
make a more effective response
than in the past to issues that
pre-empt the attention of a
sizable part of its membership.
The Continuing Financial Crisis
Many of the UN's financial
problems stem from the Congo
operation of 1960, and are com-
plicated by the continuing dis-
putes surrounding that episode.
The Soviet Union and France have
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declined to pay their assess-
ments for expenditures that they
contend were "illegally" author-
ized. The attempt to force them
to pay by depriving them of their
assembly vote led to the cancel-
lation of all voting in the Gen-
eral Assembly's session in 1964.
A bond issue was authorized
in 1961 to alleviate the finan-
cial crisis but the method of
payment of interest and princi-
pal on these bonds has been a
bone of contention ever since.
At the 23rd session, a move to
study the establishment of a
special account for the repay-
ment of the bonds almost suc-
ceeded. Some of those favoring
a segregation of bond matters
from the general budget evidently
hoped that this would permit
allocation of a greater share of
the bond expense to the coun-
tries best able to pay. It was
also argued that "isolation" of
that part of the UN's financial
woes linked to controversies of
the past might pave the way for
a more fruitful exchange of
views on how to finance the UN
in the future.
Prospects are not favorable
for any early progress toward the
solvency that would permit the
UN to assume a more effective
role. The financing issue re-
mains inextricably linked with
the constitutional dispute over
the respective roles of the
assembly and the council in
peacekeeping. The time is prob-
ably still distant when the UN
will have its own revenues from,
for example, administering the
international exploitation of
ocean resources.
The Perennial Issues
This year's Chinese repre-
sentation vote :resulted in a
slightly greater margin of defeat
for the Communists than last
year. The outcome was probably
the result of Peking's domestic
uproar and its continued bellig-
erent attitude toward the UN,
factors that overbalanced the
principle of universal represen-
tation currently popular among
the membership. Stale arguments
on both sides were replayed
without much enthusiasm. Italy's
proposal of a study committee
to investigate the feasibility
of a "two China policy" was also
defeated again. No abrupt
change in the prospects for
Peking's admission seems immi-
nent.
The Soviets used a new tac-
tic in the annual fight over
whether or not to invite North
Korea to participate alongside
South Korea in this year's Korea
debate. They tried to resolve
the issue at the opening session
of the First Committee as an
"order of work" matter, before
countries friendly to South Korea
had marshaled their forces.
Although the Soviets lost the
bid, they won a two-week delay
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between the invitation issue and
the substantive debate on Korea,
a delay Pyongyang's supporters
sought in order to give the North
Koreans time to decide whether to
come to New York. The committee
voted again this year merely
to express a "willingness to
invite" Pyongyang if it conceded
UN jurisdiction over Korean
affairs. Pyongyang again refused,
but was more moderate than usual
in its annual attack on the UN.
Comment and Prospect
On balance, the 23rd session
did little to sharpen the rele-
vance of the UN to some of the
great issues facing the world
today. A sizable part of the
session was given over to general
debate in which a great many of
the 126 members restated their
national objectives and grievances
without noticeable progress to-
ward achieving the one or al-
leviating the other. Another
substantial part was wasted on
issues on which the UN can have
no hope of finding early reso-
lution--e.g., Chinese represen-
tation and Korean reunification.
It seems evident that the assem-
bly's role in peacekeeping oper-
ations will be minimal because
of the UN's financial problems.
Only those operations that can
be supported by voluntary contri-
butions can be undertaken.
The 23rd session demonstrated
anew the chronic conflict among
the principles of universality,
responsibility, and efficiency.
The effort to expel South Africa
from UNCTAD was a dramatic manifes-
tation of the fact that the big
powers can resolve issues to
their satisfaction only if they
can corral majorities from among
countries seeing these issues
from a parochial perspective.
While the issue of ministates
seems likely to decline in im-
portance now that the UN has ap-
proached its maximum possible
membership, the question remains
of how the assembly can effec-
tively reconcile voting power
with the power realities.
Although the 23rd session
embodied all of the UN's deficien-
cies, it nevertheless shows that
in some respects the UN can func-
tion effectively, and its prestige
is higher than in some periods in
the past. This session was clearly
more fruitful than the disastrous
one of 1964; there is now no coun-
try that is seriously considering
following Indonesia's example of
de facto withdrawal--although the
African issues could produce some;
and there is no immediate prospect
of a renewal of earlier attempts
to sabotage the organization--as
Moscow intended with its troika
proposal. Even in the vexing
area of peacekeeping, it is rec-
ognized that the UN is not wholly
irrelevant. Those who have looked
for a way out of the Vietnam di-
lemma have frequently considered
a UN route; and in the Middle East,
some kind of supervisory machinery
will be required if and when a
settlement emerges.
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The 23rd session also sug-
gested that the UN may be on the
verge of defining for itself a
role in areas that can be con-
sidered truly of global concern--
development of underwater re-
sources, control of air and sea
pollution, and outer space. The
agreement in the closing days
of the session to create a 42-
member seabed committee and to
ask the secretary general to
study appropriate international
machinery for promoting the ex-
ploration and exploitation of
the seabeds is an example of
this trend. In addition, in the
oceanographic field the delegates
adopted a resolution calling for
a study of means to minimize the
danger of pollution of the marine
environment and, as proposed
earlier by the US, adopted with-
out objection a resolution call-
ing for a decade of concerted
action on ocean floor development.
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