scholarly journals The Department of State and the United nations

1950 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 400-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lincoln Palmer Bloomfield

The United Nations at the time of this writing has emerged from a period of uncertainty engendered by the Soviet boycotts beginning in January 1950, into blazing prominence as a fast-acting agency for suppressing armed aggression. Many of the questions raised during the first four years of its existence concerning its vitality and effectiveness as the center of a collective security system have now been dramatically answered. Its forms have altered with experience, and by analogy to our Constitution, its action in response to the armed invasion of the Republic of Korea constitutes a precedent which may rank with Chief Justice Marshall's most momentous decisions. Whatever new directions the organization and its Charter may take in response to the dynamics of the world society they represent, it is indisputable that this new parlimentary form of conducting international affairs has conclusively proved its worth and its indispensability to the future of the international community.

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-295
Author(s):  
Keith Allan Clark II

In 1955, Jiang Tingfu, representing the Republic of China (roc), vetoed Mongolia’s entry into the United Nations. In the 26 years the roc represented China in the United Nations, it only cast this one veto. The roc’s veto was a contentious move because Taipei had recognized Mongolia as a sovereign state in 1946. A majority of the world body, including the United States, favored Mongolia’s admission as part of a deal to end the international organization’s deadlocked-admissions problem. The roc’s veto placed it not only in opposition to the United Nations but also its primary benefactor. This article describes the public and private discourse surrounding this event to analyze how roc representatives portrayed the veto and what they thought Mongolian admission to the United Nations represented. It also examines international reactions to Taipei’s claims and veto. It argues that in 1955 Mongolia became a synecdoche for all of China that Taipei claimed to represent, and therefore roc representatives could not acknowledge it as a sovereign state.


1970 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-128
Author(s):  
Seretse Khama

On 24 September 1969, three years after Botswana achieved independence, the President of the Republic, Sir Seretse Khama, addressed the 24th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. The following extracts from his speech may be of interest to readers:… My country is … a comparative newcomer to the United Nations, and this my first opportunity to address this General Assembly. Botswana is a small country in terms of population if not in area. As a small and poor country we set a particularly high value on our membership of the United Nations and those of its specialised agencies which our budgetary restrictions have permitted us to join. I should like to emphasise the particular importance of the United Nations for states like Botswana which, because of development priorities, are obliged to restrict their conventional bilateral contacts and keep their overseas missions to a bare minimum. Here in New York we can make contacts which would otherwise be difficult to achieve… The United Nations enables us to keep in touch with international opinion, and to put our views before the world.


1951 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-190

The General Assembly of the United Nations voted on November 1, 1950 to continue Trygve Lie in the office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for an additional three years and following the vote, Mr. Lie addressed the plenary meeting. He stated that the United Nations could not function effectively unless the Secretariat acted in loyal conformity with the decisions and recommendations of the organs of the United Nations and by the same token the Secretariat must act in the collective interest of the United Nations. He pledged that as Secretary-General he would remain impartial to all countries. He pointed out that the United Nations' road to peace required universal collective security, but that a persistent effort for the reconciliation of conflicting interests plus a strong program for an adequate standard of living throughout the world were also necessary for peace.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-367
Author(s):  
PAOLO PALCHETTI

Abstract:If the main merit of The Internationalists is to shed light, in a powerful and convincing way, on the transformative power of rules, the role of institutions – and in particular of the United Nations and its collective security system centred around the activity of the Security Council – does not come out of the book as clearly as it might. It is submitted that the decision to concentrate upon the rule – the prohibition to use force – while limiting the attention paid to the institution – the United Nations and its collective security system – is not without consequence, particularly given the strict link existing, in the common perception, between the rule and the institution. This brief comment will focus on certain ambivalences emerging from the book about the contribution of the United Nations, as a peace-enforcing organisation, to fostering the emergence of a New World Order, as well as its continuing relevance for preserving the effectiveness of the principle on non-use of force.


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