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#CARD:United Kingdom:Background Notes
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE BACKGROUND NOTES:  UNITED NATIONS
August 1992
Official Name:  United Nations

PROFILE
Established: By charter signed in San Francisco, California, on June 26,
1945; effective October 24, 1945.
Purposes:  To maintain international peace and security; to develop
friendly relations among nations; to achieve international cooperation
in solving economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian problems and in
promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; to be a
center for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these common
ends.
Members: 179.   Official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French,
Russian, Spanish.  Principal organs: General Assembly, Security Council,
Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, International Court of
Justice, Secretariat. Budget: UN assessed budget (calendar year
1991)-$1.2 billion.
US share-$298 million.  In calendar 1991, the United States paid its
full assessment of $1.1 billion to the United Nations, its agencies, and
other international organizations, including UN peace-keeping
operations, voluntary contributions for other UN organizations such as
UNICEF, and $25 million for UN refugee programs.

Secretariat
Chief Administrative Officer: Secretary General of the United Nations,
appointed to a 5-yr. term by the General Assembly on the recommendation
of the Security Council.
Secretary General: Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
Staff: A worldwide staff of 23,000, including more than 2,800 US
citizens.  The staff is appointed by the Secretary General according to
UN regulations.

General Assembly
Membership: All UN members. President: Elected at the beginning of each
General Assembly session.
Main committees: First-Political and Security, primarily disarmament;
Special Political Committee. Second-Economic and Financial.
Third-Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural. Fourth-Trusteeship.
Fifth-Administrative and Budgetary. Sixth-Legal. Many other committees
address specific issues, including peace-keeping, outer space, crime
prevention, status of women, and UN Charter reform.

Security Council
Membership: Five permanent members (China, France, Russia, UK, US), each
with the right to veto, and 10 non-permanent members elected by the
General Assembly for 2-year terms. (In December 1991, Russia assumed the
permanent Security Council seat previously held by the USSR.) Five
non-permanent members are elected from Africa and Asia combined; one
from Eastern Europe; two from Latin America; and two from Western Europe
and other areas. Non-permanent members are not eligible for immediate
reelection. The 1992 non-permanent members are Austria, Belgium, Cape
Verde, Hungary, Japan, Morocco,  Venezuela , Ecuador, India, and
Zimbabwe.
President: Rotates monthly in English alphabetical order of members.

Economic and Social Council
Membership: 54; 18 elected each year by the General Assembly for 3-year
terms. President: Elected each year.

Trusteeship Council
Membership: China, France, Russia,
UK, US.
President: Elected each year.

International Court of Justice
Membership: 15, elected for 9-year terms by the General Assembly and the
Security Council from nominees of national groups under provisions of
the International Court of Justice Statute.

In 1992, UN membership increased from 166 to 179 with the addition of 13
new countries:
Armenia (March)
Azerbaijan (March)
Bosnia-Hercegovina (May)
Croatia (May)
Georgia (July)
Kazakhstan (March)
Kyrgyzstan (March)
Moldova (March)
San Marino (March)
Slovenia (May)
Tajikistan (March)
Turkmenistan (March)
Uzbekistan (March)

BACKGROUND
 The immediate antecedent of the United Nations was the League of
Nations.  It was created under US leadership following World War I
(although the United States never became a member).  The League existed
from 1919 until its reduced organization and functions were replaced by
the United Nations in 1945.
 The idea for the United Nations found expression in declarations signed
at conferences in Moscow and Tehran in October and December 1943.  In
the summer of 1944, representatives of the USSR, the UK, and the United
States met at Dumbarton Oaks, a mansion in Washington, DC.  Later,
discussions among China, the UK, and the United States resulted in
proposals concerning the purposes and principles of an international
organization, its membership and principal organs, as well as
arrangements to maintain international peace and security and
international economic and social cooperation.  These proposals were
discussed and debated by governments and private citizens worldwide.
 On March 5, 1945, invitations to a conference to be held in San
Francisco in April were issued by the United States on behalf of itself,
China, the USSR, and the UK to 42 other governments that had signed the
January 1, 1942, "Declaration by United Nations" and that had declared
war on Germany or Japan no later than March 1, 1945.  The conference
added Argentina, Denmark, and the two republics of Byelorussia and the
Ukraine, bringing the total to 50.
 The 50 nations represented at San Francisco signed the Charter of the
United Nations on June 26, 1945.  Poland, which was not represented at
the conference but for which a place among the original signatories had
been reserved, added its name later, bringing the total of original
signatories to 51.  The United Nations came into existence 4 months
later, on October 24, 1945, when the Charter had been ratified by the
five permanent members of the Security Council-China, France, the USSR,
the UK, and the United States-and by a majority of the other
signatories.
 UN membership is open to all "peace-loving states" that accept the
obligations of the UN Charter and, in the judgment of the organization,
are able and willing to fulfill these obligations.  In September, 1991,
there were 166 members. By August 1992, 179 countries were members of
the UN.  Admission to membership is determined by the General Assembly
upon  recommendation of the Security Council.
 In New York City, the UN owns its headquarters site , which is
international territory.  The UN headquarters building was constructed
between January 1, 1949, and August 21, 1950, beside the East River on
donated land.  Under special agreement with the United States, certain
diplomatic privileges and immunities have been granted, but generally
the laws of New York City, New York State, and the United States apply.

SECURITY COUNCIL
 Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has "primary responsibility
for the maintenance of international peace and security," and all UN
members "agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security
Council in accordance with the present Charter."
 Other organs of the United Nations make recommendations to member
governments.  The Security Council, however, has the power to make
decisions, which member governments must carry out under the Charter.  A
representative of each Security Council member must always be present at
UN headquarters so that the Council can meet at any time.
 Decisions in the Security Council on all substantive matters-for
example, a decision calling for direct measures related to the
settlement of a dispute-require the affirmative votes of nine members,
including the support of all five permanent members.  A negative vote-a
veto-by a permanent member prevents adoption of a proposal that has
received the required number of affirmative votes.  Abstention is not
regarded as a veto.  A permanent member usually abstains when it does
not wish to vote in favor of a decision or to block it with a veto.
 A state that is a member of the UN but not of the Security Council may
participate in Security Council discussions in which the Council agrees
that the country's interests are particularly affected.  In recent
years, the Council has interpreted this loosely, enabling many countries
to take part in its discussions.  Non-members routinely are invited to
take part when they are parties to disputes being considered by the
Council.
 Although the UN Charter gives the Security Council primary
responsibility for international peace and security, it recommends that
states first make every effort to settle their disputes peacefully,
either bilaterally or through regional organizations.
 Under Chapter Six of the Charter, "Pacific Settlement of Disputes," the
Security Council "may investigate any dispute, or any situation which
might lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute."  The
Council may "recommend appropriate procedures or methods of adjustment"
if it determines that the situation might endanger international peace
and security.  These recommendations are not binding on UN members.
 Under Chapter Seven, the Council has broader power to decide upon
measures to be taken in situations involving "threats to the peace,
breaches of the peace, or acts of aggression."  In such situations, the
Council is not limited to recommendations but may take action, including
the use of armed force, "to maintain or restore international peace and
security."  This was the basis for UN armed action in Korea in 1950 and
for the use of coalition forces in Iraq and Kuwait in 1991.
 In the case of Iraq, the Security Council adopted 12 resolutions in
1990 that clearly laid out the path of peace for that country to follow.
 Those resolutions demanded that Iraq withdraw immediately and
unconditionally from Kuwait, established an economic embargo against
Iraq backed by force, and authorized the use of "all means necessary" to
expel Iraqi armed forces from Kuwait if the Iraqis did not withdraw by
January 15, 1991.  When the Iraqis did not withdraw, the international
coalition of forces launched Operation Desert Storm at 4:50 pm Eastern
Standard Time on January 16 to force Iraq into complying with the 12 UN
Security Council resolutions.  As a result of that joint military
operation, the Iraqi armed forces were expelled from Kuwait.

 GENERAL ASSEMBLY
 The General Assembly is made up of all 179 UN members.  Member
countries are seated in English alphabetical order.  Each year, seating
begins at a point in the alphabet determined through a drawing.
 The Assembly meets in regular session once a year under a president
elected from among the representatives.  The regular session usually
begins on the third Tuesday in September and ends in mid-December.
Special sessions can be convened at the request of the Security Council,
of a majority of UN members, or, if the majority concurs, of a single
member.  There have been 14 special sessions of the General Assembly.
The 10th special session, in 1978, constituted the largest
inter-governmental  conference on disarmament in history.
 Voting in the General Assembly on important questions-recommendations
on peace and security; election of members to organs; admission,
suspension, and expulsion of members; trusteeship questions; budgetary
matters-is by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting "yes" or
"no." Abstentions are not counted.  Other questions are decided by a
simple majority vote.  Each member country has one vote.
 Apart from approval of budgetary matters, including adoption of a scale
of assessment, Assembly resolutions are not binding on the members.  It
may make recommendations on any questions or matters within the scope of
the UN except matters of peace and security under Security Council
consideration.
 As the only UN organ in which all members are represented, the Assembly
has been the forum in which members have launched major initiatives on
international questions of peace, economic progress, and human rights.
It may initiate studies and make recommendations to promote
international political cooperation; develop and codify international
law;  realize human rights and fundamental freedoms; and further
international economic, social, cultural, educational, and health
programs.
 The Assembly may take action if the Security Council is unable-usually
due to disagreement among the five permanent members-to exercise its
primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace in a
case involving an apparent threat to the peace, breach of peace, or act
of aggression.  The "Uniting for Peace" resolutions, adopted in 1950,
empower the Assembly, if not already in session, to convene in emergency
special session on 24-hour notice and to recommend collective
measures-including the use of armed force in the case of a breach of the
peace or act of aggression.  Two-thirds of the members must approve any
such recommendation.  Emergency special sessions under this procedure
have been held on nine occasions.  The eighth emergency special session,
in September 1981, considered the situation in Namibia.  The situation
in the occupied Arab territories, following Israel's unilateral
extension of its laws, jurisdiction, and administration to the Golan
Heights, was the subject of the ninth emergency session in January and
February 1982.
 Recently, the Assembly has become a forum for the North-South
dialogue-the discussion of issues between industrialized nations and
developing countries.  These issues have come to the fore because of the
phenomenal growth and changing makeup of the UN membership.  Smaller
countries that achieved independence after the UN's creation have caused
a massive shift in the Assembly.  In 1945, the United Nations had 51
members: now more than two-thirds of its 179 members are developing
countries.
  There are many differences in wealth, size, and outlook among the
developing countries.  Nevertheless, this large group (some 120
countries in the General Assembly), known as "the Third World," the
"non-aligned," and the "Group of 77," has generally voted and acted in
concert.  Because of their numbers, they tend to determine the agenda of
the Assembly, the character of its debates, and the nature of its
decisions.  For many developing countries, the United Nations is
particularly important.  It is the collective source of much of their
diplomatic influence and the basic outlet for their foreign relations
initiatives.  Increasingly, they seek inclusion in the councils of
power, and the UN provides such a policy forum.
 The UN has devoted significant attention to the problems of the
developing countries, in response to their growing political importance
in multilateral arenas.  The General Assembly has guided, and in many
cases created, special programs to help developing nations acquire the
skills, knowledge, and organization they need for more productive
economies.  These programs complement the work of the various
specialized agencies in the UN system.  Through its economic committee,
the Assembly remains concerned with the question of economic
development.

Economic and Social Council
 The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) assists the General Assembly
in promoting international economic and social cooperation and
development. ECOSOC has 54 members, 18 of whom are selected each year by
the General Assembly for a 3-year term.  A retiring member is eligible
for immediate reelection-the United States, France, the UK, and the USSR

have been members since the UN was founded.  ECOSOC has held two major
sessions each year: a spring meeting, usually in New York, and a summer
meeting, usually in Geneva, but now is merging  the two sessions into
one 7-week session, alternating locations between New York and Geneva.
The president is elected for a 1-year term. Voting is by simple
majority.
 ECOSOC undertakes studies and makes recommendations on development,
world trade, industrialization, natural resources, human rights, the
status of women, population, narcotics, social welfare, science and
technology, crime prevention, and other issues.

Trusteeship Council
 The UN trusteeship system was established to help ensure that
non-self-governing territories were administered in the best interests
of the inhabitants and of international peace and security.  The
Trusteeship Council operates under the authority of the General Assembly
or, in the case of strategic trusts, the Security Council.  It assists
those bodies in carrying out their responsibilities under the UN
Charter.
 A UN member administering a trust territory is pledged to promote the
political, economic, and educational advancement of the territory's
people.  It also promotes "progressive  development towards
self-government or independence as may be appropriate to the particular
circumstances of each territory and its people and the freely expressed
wishes of the peoples concerned."
 As recently as 1957, 11 territories-most of them former mandates of the
League of Nations or territories taken from enemy states at the end of
World War II-were part of the UN trusteeship system.  All but one have
attained self-government or independence, either as separate nations or
by joining neighboring independent countries.
 The only one remaining is the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
(TTPI), designated as a strategic area and administered by the United
States under a 1947 agreement with the Security Council.  On May 28,
1986, the Trusteeship Council determined that the United States had
fulfilled its obligations as trustee and asked it to make arrangements
for trusteeship termination by September 30, 1986, according to the new
status arrangements negotiated with TTPI governments and ratified by
their peoples in UN-observed acts of self-determination.
   As a result of these arrangements, the Republic of the Marshall
Islands  and the Federated States of Micronesia  became sovereign,
self-governing states in free association with the United States.  A
third TTPI entity, the Northern Mariana Islands, had become a
self-governing US commonwealth in 1986.  On December 22, 1990, the
Security Council confirmed the Trusteeship Council's action in
Resolution 683.  A fourth TTPI entity, the Republic of Palau, remains
subject to the Trusteeship Agreement.  The United States and Palau have
negotiated a Compact of Free Association, under which Palau would have a
status comparable to that of the Marshall Islands and Micronesia.
Efforts to bring the compact into effect have been thwarted, however, by
failure to obtain the approval of 75% of Palau's voters in order to
reconcile nuclear provisions of the compact with non-nuclear provisions
of the Palauan Constitution.
 Membership of the Trusteeship Council consists of the United States-the
only country now administering a trust territory-and the other permanent
members of the Security Council-China, France, the UK, and Russia.

International Court of Justice
 The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of
the UN.  The Court was established under the Charter in 1945 as the
successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice.  Its main
functions are to decide cases submitted to it by states and to give
advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by the General
Assembly or Security Council, or by such specialized agencies as may be
authorized to do so by the General Assembly in accordance with the UN
Charter.
 The seat of the Court is in The Hague, Netherlands. It is composed of
15 judges elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council from
a list of persons nominated by the national groups in the Permanent
Court of Arbitration.  Electors are mandated to bear in mind the
qualifications of the candidates and the need for the Court as a whole
to represent the main cultural groups and principal legal systems.  No
two judges may be nationals of the same country.  Judges serve for 9
years and may be reelected.  One-third of the Court (five judges) is
elected every 3 years.
 Questions before the Court are decided by a majority of judges present.
 Nine judges constitute a quorum. In case of a tie, the president of the
Court casts the deciding vote.  In certain circum-stances, parties may
be entitled to request a specific judge for a specific case.
 Only states may be parties in cases before the International Court of
Justice.  This does not preclude private interests from being the
subject of proceedings if one state brings the case against another.
Jurisdiction of the Court is based on the consent of the parties.  The
United States accepted the Court's compulsory jurisdiction in 1946 but
withdrew its acceptance following the Court's decision in the Nicaragua
case in 1986.
 In the event of a dispute concerning the Court's jurisdiction, the
matter is settled by the Court.  Judgments are binding upon the parties.
 The Security Council can be called upon by a party to determine
measures to be taken to give effect to a judgment if the other party
fails to perform its obligations under that judgment.  Examples of cases
include:

 -- A dispute between Greece and Turkey over the boundary of the
continental shelf in the Aegean Sea;
 -- A complaint by the United States in 1980 that Iran was detaining
American diplomats in Tehran in violation of international law;
 --  A dispute between Tunisia and Libya over the delimitation of the
continental shelf between them;
 --  A dispute over the course of the maritime boundary dividing the
United States and Canada in the Gulf of Maine area; and
 --  A complaint brought by Nicaragua against the United States
concerning military and paramilitary activities.

Secretariat
 The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary General, assisted by a staff
of about 10,000 international civil servants worldwide.  It provides
studies, information, and facilities needed by UN bodies for their
meetings.  It also carries out tasks as directed by the Security
Council, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and
other authorized UN bodies.  The Charter provides that the staff be
chosen by application of the "highest standards of efficiency,
competence, and integrity," with due regard for the importance of
recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.
 The Charter also provides that the Secretary General and staff shall
not seek or receive instructions from any government or authority other
than the United Nations.  Each UN member is enjoined to respect the
international character of the Secretariat and not seek to influence its
staff.  The Secretary General alone is responsible for the staff
selection.
 The Secretary General's duties include helping resolve international
disputes, administering peace-keeping operations, organizing
international conferences, gathering information on the implementation
of Security Council decisions, and consulting with member governments
regarding various international relations initiatives.  The Secretary
General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter
that, in his or her opinion, may threaten international peace and
security.
 In 1977, the General Assembly created a new position in the
Secretariat-a Director General for Development and Economic Cooperation.
 The incumbent, second only to the Secretary General, works to obtain
better efficiency and coordination of the many economic and
developmental programs operating within the UN system.

THE UN FAMILY
 In addition to the 6 principal UN organs, the UN family includes nearly
30 major programs or agencies.  Some were in existence before the UN was
created and are related to it by agreement. Others were established by
the General Assembly.  Each specialized agency provides expertise in a
specific area.  Some of the important agencies are discussed below.

 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).  Headquartered in Vienna,
Austria, the IAEA seeks both to promote the peaceful application of
nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes.  The IAEA's
programs encourage the development and transfer of the peaceful
application of nuclear technology, provide international safeguards
against its misuse, facilitate the application of safety measures in its
use, and help to ensure the environmentally safe disposal of nuclear
waste.

 International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).  Headquartered in
Montreal, Canada, ICAO develops the principles and techniques of
international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of
international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.  The ICAO
Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air
navigation, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of
border-crossing procedures for international civil aviation.  Currently,
the United States is actively involved in the adoption and bringing into
force of an ICAO-sponsored multilateral convention to ensure that
manufacturers of plastic explosives insert chemical additives to make
the explosives detectable by screening devices at airports.

 International Labor Organization (ILO).  Headquartered in Geneva,
Switzerland, ILO is unique among international organizations because of
its tripartite character:  National delegations consist of
representatives from government, management, and labor.  US delegations
are comprised of representatives from the federal government, the
AFL-CIO, and the US Council for International Business.  ILO seeks to
strengthen worker rights, improve working and living conditions, create
employment, and provide information and training opportunities.  ILO
programs of direct benefit to the United States include the occupational
safety and health-hazard-alert system and the labor standards and human
rights programs.

 International Maritime Organization (IMO).  Headquartered in London,
England, IMO promotes cooperation among governments and the shipping
industry to improve maritime safety and to prevent marine pollution.  A
significant IMO accomplishment was the adoption in 1986 of a set of
measures, drafted by the United States following the 1985 hijacking of
the Achille Lauro, to protect passengers and crews on board ships.  IMO
has also played a major role in coordinating global response to major
oil spills.  In November 1990, in reaction to the Exxon Valdez oil spill
and in response to the 1989 Group of Seven economic summit in Paris, a
new international convention on oil pollution preparedness and response
was completed and opened for signature.

 Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).  Headquartered
in Geneva, Switzerland, UNHCR protects and supports refugees at the
request of a government or the UN and assists in their return or
resettlement.  UNHCR was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954 and 1982.

 UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).  Headquartered in New York City, UNICEF is
headed by a US executive director and provides long-term humanitarian
and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing
countries.  A voluntarily funded agency, UNICEF relies on contributions
from governments and private donors.  Its programs emphasize developing
community-level services to promote the health and well-being of
children.  UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965.  In
September 1990, it hosted a World Summit for Children to address
problems and opportunities for children and to rally the political will
and resources to meet their needs.  President Bush headed the US
delegation.

 UN Development Program (UNDP).  Headquartered in New York City, UNDP
has a US administrator and is the largest multilateral source of grant
technical assistance in the world. Voluntarily funded, it provides
expert advice, training, and limited equipment to developing countries,
with increasing emphasis on assistance to the poorest countries.

 UN Environmental Program (UNEP).  Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, UNEP
leads and coordinates UN environmental activities, calling attention to
global and regional environmental problems and stimulating programs to
address the problems.  UNEP assists developing countries in implementing
environmentally sound development policies and has produced a worldwide
environmental monitoring system to standardize international data.  UNEP
also has developed guidelines and treaties on issues such as the
international transport of potentially harmful chemicals, trans-boundary
air pollution, and contamination of international waterways.
 UNEP is implementing two important new agreements aimed at protecting
the earth's ozone layer.  The United States helped establish, through
UNEP and the World Meteorological Organization, the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which provides a forum to analyze the
climate changes in the atmosphere resulting from natural and  man-made
chemicals (the so-called greenhouse effect).

 World Food Program (WFP). Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the WFP
distributes food commodities to support development projects, for
protracted refugee and displaced persons projects, and as emergency food
assistance in situations of natural and manmade disasters.  Development
projects, traditionally about two-thirds of WFP programs, now constitute
about 55%, as emergency and protracted refugee situations worldwide
result in increasing demands for WFP programs and resources.  WFP
operates exclusively from voluntary contributions of both commodities
and cash donated by governments.

 World Health Organization (WHO).  Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland,
WHO acts as a coordinating authority on international public health.
After years of fighting smallpox, WHO declared in 1979 that the disease
had been eradicated.  It is nearing success in developing vaccines
against malaria and schistosomiasis and aims to eradicate polio by the
year 2000.  WHO also is coordinating global research into the causes,
cures, and potential vaccines against acquired immune deficiency
syndrome (AIDS).  Overall, the agency is working toward the goal of
"health for all by the year 2000" by seeking a level of health for all
the world's people that will enable them to lead productive lives.

FINANCING
 The UN system is financed in two ways:  assessed and voluntary
contributions from member states.
 The regular 2-year budgets of the United Nations and its specialized
agencies are funded by assessments.  In the case of the UN, the General
Assembly approves the regular budget and determines the assessment for
each member.  This is broadly based on the relative capacity of each
country to pay, as measured by national income statistics, although
there are some variations.

 The Assembly has established the principle that no member should pay
more than 25% of the regular budget, which for the 1992-93 period is
over $2 billion.  The United States is the only nation affected by this
limitation.  If the standard criterion of "capacity to pay" were applied
in the same manner to the United States as to other major industrial
powers, the United States would be assessed at about 28%.
 Under the scale of assessments adopted for period 1992-93, other major
contributors to the regular UN budget are Japan (12%), Russia (9%),
Germany (9%), France (6%), and the UK (5%).  For 1992-93, assessment
against members is $1.2 billion per year; the net US share, after
adjustments, is $298.6 million.
 The 41st UN General Assembly agreed in 1986 on the need to institute
far-reaching reform measures designed to restore and strengthen the
capability of the United Nations to serve the interests of its member
states.  An acceptable program-budget-approval mechanism was found that
contains the following essential elements:

 --  A consensus decision-making process;
 --  A budget ceiling;
 --  An indication of program
priorities; and
 -- A contingency fund that protects the integrity of the budget from
constant add-ons.

 As a result of what was achieved, member states, through good-faith
negotiation, now act by consensus on important program-budget issues
that previously proved so divisive.  This is essential to the long-term
operational viability of the UN and helped restore a sense of
negotiation and cooperation in UN deliberations beyond budgetary issues.
 UN peace-keeping operations have been financed by a combination of
assessments, voluntary contributions, and the sale of UN bonds.  The UN
Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has been financed solely by voluntary
contributions.  Some member nations, in addition to providing monetary
support, have supplied troops, equipment, or services without subsequent
reimbursement.  The United States has airlifted personnel from nations
contri-buting troops to a number of peace-keeping operations.
 Special UN programs not included in the regular budget-such as UNICEF
and UNDP-are financed by voluntary contri-butions from member
governments.  Some private-sector funds also are provided.  Some nations
use the UN system extensively to contribute to developmental assistance
programs in other nations.
 The United States contributes varying percentages of the costs of the
different agencies and programs in the UN system.  In FY 1990, its
combined assessed and voluntary contributions amounted to about $1.3
billion.

MAINTAINING THE PEACE
The UN Charter gives the Security Council the power to:

 --  Investigate any situation threatening international peace;
 --  Recommend procedures for peaceful resolution of a dispute;
 --  Call upon other member nations to completely or partially interrupt
economic relations as well as sea, air, postal, and radio
communications, or to sever diplomatic relations; and
 --  Enforce its decisions militarily, if necessary.

 Since the United Nations was created, there have been many outbreaks of
international violence in which the United Nations has helped to reduce
the danger of wider conflict.  It has opened the way to negotiated
settlements through its service as a center of debate and negotiation,
as well as through fact-finding missions, mediators, and truce
observers.  The  United States and other like-minded nations seek to
enhance the effectiveness   of the Security Council in dealing with
international conflicts.  Comprised  of troops and equipment supplied by
a broad range of nations, UN peace-keeping forces sometimes have been
able to limit or prevent conflict.  With experience in the operation of
such forces over many years, this UN activity has become increasingly
prominent as cooperation has increased in recent years among permanent
members of the Security Council.  The UN cannot impose peace, however.
Some conflicts never have been discussed by the Security Council, and
others have proved to be beyond the capacity of the UN to influence.
Linkage of UN peace-keeping efforts to a viable political process has
been key to their success.
 The most extensive use of UN troops was in Korea, where, in 1950, the
Security Council mobilized forces under US leadership for the defense of
South Korea against an attack from North Korea.  UN forces there reached
a peak strength of 500,000.
 In 1960-64,  20,000 peace-keepers helped restore order following
independence in the Congo (now Zaire).
 In 1964, a UN Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) was created to
prevent fighting between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.  This mission was
given new urgency when Turkish troops landed on Cyprus in 1974.
 In the search for a peaceful solution in the Middle East, the United
Nations has been involved in various ways over the past 43 years.  Its
efforts have ranged from UN-sponsored negotiations to the actual
deployment of UN troops.  For example, the fighting that broke out when
the State of Israel was established in 1948 was halted by a UN
cease-fire.  UN mediators helped bring about armistice agreements
between Israel and Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.  Those agreements
provided for implementation by mixed armistice commissions and the UN
Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO).  The UN Relief and Works Agency
(UNWRA) was established to assist Arab refugees from the conflict.
 In 1956, the Suez Canal crisis was resolved by the withdrawal of
British, French, and Israeli forces from Egyptian territory in
compliance with a UN resolution and by the establishment of the UN
Emergency Force (UNEF I) to preserve the peace.  The UN was active again
in achieving a cease-fire and installing UN observers after the June
1967 war between Israel and its neighbors.  Following the outbreak of
hostilities in October 1973, a new UN Emergency Force  (UNEF II) was
created to interpose itself between the forces of Israel and Egypt.  It
fulfilled its mandate and was dissolved in 1979 with the conclusion of
the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty.  After Israel and Syria reached
agreement on disengaging their forces on the Golan Heights in 1974, the
Security Council established a UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
The mandate of UNDOF has been extended periodically by the Council.
 The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was created in early 1978,
following an Israeli reprisal attack on Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) bases in southern Lebanon.  It permitted an Israeli
withdrawal and restored order under the control of Lebanese authorities.
 After Israel's invasion of June 1982 drastically transformed conditions
in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL played  a significant role in efforts to
bring
stability to southern Lebanon.  Its mandate has been extended
periodically by the Security Council, with humanitarian and other
temporary tasks added to its functions.
 Efforts by the United States and other countries over the years to
enhance the effectiveness of the Security Council in dealing with
international conflicts led to an effective worldwide coalition in 1990.
 For only the second time in UN history, and for the first time with the
USSR's support, the UN formally authorized the use of force against an
aggressor country.  Twelve UN Security Council resolutions demanded that
Iraq withdraw from Kuwait.  When Iraq did not do so by the January 15,
1991, deadline, the US-led forces expelled Iraq from Kuwait.
 Seven new peace-keeping activities in the Mideast (UNIKOM),  Africa
(UNAVEM II and MINURSO),  Central America (ONUCA), Cambodia (UNAMIC and
UNTAC), and the former Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR)  were established in the
year following the conclusion of the Gulf war.  The proliferation of
these operations reflected a new climate of international cooperation
and growing consensus that, in the post-Cold War era, the UN had a
central role to play in helping defuse regional conflicts.  These new UN
under-takings represented also an emerging synthesis of peace-keeping
and peace-making, adding to the traditional peace-keeping  mandates such
responsibilities as  supervising elections, monitoring  human rights,
and overseeing civil administration.
 With its new, higher profile, however, the UN has had to make difficult
choices.  Limited funds and the UN's own limited capacity to plan and
implement peace-keeping operations required that priorities be
established.  At the recent UN Security Council summit, 12 other heads
of government joined President Bush in reiterating their support for
collective security.  They encouraged the Secretary General to increase
his efforts not only to resolve conflicts but to head them off.  It was
recognized, however, that fundamental to the success of any UN
peace-keeping operation is the full cooperation  of the parties.  It was
further acknowledged that  regional organizations could play a
constructive peace-keeping role and might be better situated, on a
case-by-case basis, to intercede and mediate the peaceful resolution of
conflicts.

ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT
 The UN Charter, adopted in 1945, gave no immediate priority to
disarmament, but envisaged a system of regulation that would ensure "the
least diversion for armaments of the world's human and economic
resources."  The advent of nuclear weapons came only weeks after the
signing of the Charter and provided immediate impetus to concepts of
arms limitation and disarmament.  In fact, the first resolution of the
first meeting of the General Assembly (January 24, 1946) was entitled
"The Establishment of a Commission to Deal with the Problems Raised by
the Discovery of Atomic Energy" and called upon the commission to make
specific proposals for "the elimination from national armaments of
atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass
destruction."
 The UN has established a few forums to address multilateral disarmament
issues.  The principal ones are the First Committee of the UN General
Assembly, the UN Disarmament Commission, and the Geneva-based Conference
on Disarmament.  Items on the agenda include consideration of the
possible merits of a nuclear test ban, outer-space arms control, efforts
to ban chemical weapons, nuclear and conventional disarmament,
nuclear-weapon-free zones, reduction of military budgets, and measures
to strengthen international security.
 The Conference on Disarmament is the sole forum established by the
inter-national community for the negotiation of multilateral arms
control and disarmament agreements.  Evolving from earlier multilateral
forums dating back to 1959, it has 40 members representing all areas of
the world, including the five major nuclear-weapon states (China,
France, Russia, UK, and US).  The conference is an autonomous body and
is not formally a UN organization.  It is linked, however, to the UN
system through a personal representative of the Secretary General who
serves as the secretary general of the conference.  Resolutions adopted
by the General Assembly often request the conference to consider
specific disarmament matters.  In turn, the conference reports on its
activities to the General Assembly annually.

HUMAN RIGHTS
 The pursuit of human rights was one of the central reasons for creation
of the United Nations.  World War II atrocities, including the execution
of millions of Jews, led to a ready consensus that the new organization
must work to prevent any similar tragedies in the future.
 An early objective was the creation of a framework of legal obligations
as the basis for consideration of and action on complaints about human
rights violations.  The UN Charter obliges all member nations to promote
"universal respect for, and observance of, human rights" and to take
"joint and separate action" to that end.
 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, though not legally binding,
was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948.  Treaties and conventions
followed, many of them drawing upon the Universal Declaration. These
included the:

 -- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
 -- International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights;
 -- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination;
 -- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women; and
 -- American Convention on Human Rights.

 Although each of these treaties has been signed by the United States,
consent to their ratification has not been given by the Senate.  The
Senate has granted its advice and consent to the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.  Congress has passed
the necessary implementing legislation, and the convention has been
formally ratified by the United States.
 In addition to the preparation of legal documents, various organs of
the UN system undertake consideration of human rights issues.  The
General Assembly regularly takes up human rights questions originating
in the Assembly or referred to it by subordinate bodies.
 The UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), under ECOSOC, is charged
specifically with promoting human rights. To carry out this mandate, the
UNHRC drafts international instruments, conducts expert studies, and
investigates situations in countries where human rights violations are
believed to occur.  Investigations can be proposed by any member
government and are decided upon by vote of the entire commission. The 43
UNHRC members (including the United States) are elected by ECOSOC on the
basis of equitable geographic distribution.  The number of members of
the Commission grew to 53 beginning with the 1992 session, the
additional 10 seats being divided among the Latin American, African, and
Asian groups.
 The UNHRC Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection
of Minorities is composed of experts serving as individuals rather than
as government representatives.  Among its various activities, the
subcommission may, under procedures set up by ECOSOC, make a
confidential review of private communications sent to the UN containing
allegations of human rights abuses.  Situations that appear to reveal a
consistent pattern of gross human rights violations may be referred to
the commission in closed session. That body may then make a thorough
study of the situation or may undertake an investigation with the
consent of the accused government.
 Other UN agencies also act on human rights concerns.  The ILO was one
of the first agencies to set high standards and reporting requirements
on human rights situations in the labor field.  A special committee of
UNESCO, of which the United States is not a member, examines human
rights complaints from individuals, groups, and non-governmental
organizations within the fields of education, science, culture, and
communication.
 The Organization of American States (OAS) has written an American
Convention on Human Rights that gives jurisdiction to an Inter-American

Human Rights Commission and creates a new court on human rights. The
convention entered into force in July 1978. The United States has signed
but not ratified the convention.
 The United Nations is expanding its work on behalf of women, not only
to ensure their rights as individuals but also to stress the need for
them to use their talents and abilities for progress on social issues.
These efforts are reflected in the agendas of the Commission on the
Status of Women, ECOSOC, the General Assembly, the UNHRC, and the UNDP
Governing Council and in discussions of the rights and problems of
elderly women at the World Assembly on Aging.  UN efforts led to the
celebration of International Women's Year in 1975 and to the declaration
of a UN Decade for Women, 1976-85.
 Although the UN system has created a legal framework for action on
human rights, efforts to implement the established standards have been
uneven.  Some observers have suggested that UN forums have been
characterized by "selective morality" as criticism has been focused
primarily on the state of human rights in Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala,
South Africa, and the Israeli-occupied territories simply because such
criticism was acceptable to a majority of UN members, while criticism of
other nations' abuses was not.
 The 1982 and 1983 sessions of the UNHRC marked a departure in this
regard, by taking public action on an East European country, Poland, for
the first time in the commission's history.  At its 1988 session, the
commission took a major step toward investigating the human rights
situation in Cuba, primarily as a result of efforts on the part of the
United States.  At that session, the United States proposed a resolution
which would inscribe Cuba on the commission's 1989 agenda.  This US
initiative prompted negotiations that resulted in an agreement to send
an investigatory team to Cuba under UNHRC auspices and according to UN
rules and regulations regarding special rapporteurs.  As a result of
that investigation, conducted in Cuba in September 1988, the 1989
session of the UNHRC was presented with a 400-page report on the human
rights situation in Cuba.  At the 1992 session, the commission, noting
no improvement in the human rights situation there, decided to appoint
an individual as special rapporteur to keep Cuban human rights under
scrutiny.

BENEFITS OF THE UN SYSTEM
 One of the benefits of the UN system is the opportunity it provides for
govern-ment officials to meet, share ideas, and consult on international
problems.  This helps them to understand the views of other governments
while avoiding confrontations that might otherwise result from
misunderstandings of national intentions and interests.
 Each year in September, the General Assembly's annual regular session
brings together not only the official representatives of all member
countries but also, in many cases, the foreign ministers and chiefs of
state.  The US Secretary of State traditionally spends 2-3 weeks at the
General Assembly each year consulting with other governments on both
bilateral questions and on issues coming before the United Nations.
President Bush, a former UN ambassador, follows the tradition set by
many US presidents of addressing the General Assembly annually.
 The United Nations and its affiliated international organizations are
especially important to member nations of the Third World who conduct
much of their foreign policy there and rely heavily on these forums to
advance their national interests and interact with other nations,
including the United States.  Thus, the United States cannot afford to
rely solely on its bilateral relations with Third World countries for
advancing US foreign policy objectives but must take advantage of its
participation in the UN system to influence the opinions and policies of
Third World governments and their peoples.
 General Benefits.  Participation in the United Nations and its
affiliated programs and agencies helps the United States in many ways:
It provides important mechanisms for the advancement of US foreign
policy objectives; it can serve as a powerful platform for the
advancement of Western values and ideals; it facilitates large-scale
humanitarian operations and multilateral efforts to deal with global
problems, such as famine and pestilence; and it can serve the cause of
peace.
 In foreign policy, the United Nations clearly accomplishes tasks that
neither the United States nor any nation could accomplish alone.  These
tasks include coordinated efforts to reduce regional and global
environmental problems; to control human and animal diseases that
threaten to reach epidemic proportions; to monitor, report, and predict
global weather patterns; and, most important, to establish conditions
conducive to the peaceful resolution of disputes between nations.  In
particular, UN peace-keeping forces often have provided a "buffer"
(helpful to the maintenance of cease-fires in the Middle East and
Cyprus)  by establishing an atmosphere in which conflicts can be
contained and peace negotiations can take place.  The United States
hopes that involving the UN will reduce the likelihood  of open conflict
and promote a more stable international order.   History warns that
disputes  can get out of control, drawing large nations and small into a
vortex from which they cannot escape.  The UN can provide an
internationally acceptable setting in which nations can move away from
rigid negotiating positions and begin to seek solutions to their
problems.
 Achievement of US international goals in human rights depends on its
ability to mobilize world opinion on behalf of human rights issues.  If
only one nation urges an end to genocide, torture, terrorism, illegal
detention, or political persecutions, the offending nation can
procrastinate without penalty.  If, however, the UN takes a strong stand
on behalf of human rights, pressures for reform are more effective and
the likelihood of corrective action correspondingly greater.
 UN programs also can serve US objectives for the developing world by
promoting economic development.  Concerned about global poverty, the
United States attempts through various means to help developing nations
meet basic human needs-clean water, food, shelter, and health care-and
other development goals.  This objective is pursued on a bilateral
basis, through regional approaches, and by actively employing the UN
system to persuade other countries to share the burden of global
development.
 The United States and other major Western donors encourage the UN
system to promote private-sector approaches to development in the Third
World and to loosen the bonds of government-controlled markets and
commodity-pricing arrange-ments.  Today, UN technical assistance and
financing systems are supplying  needed experience, skills, equipment,
resources, and support programs that encourage self-reliance in
developing-country societies, that encourage change in government
policies that are not conducive to development, and that allow Third
World populations to better cope with difficult circumstances.
 UN programs also try to meet humanitarian needs for those disadvantaged
by circumstances beyond their control.  Even private charitable agencies
must rely on the multiple capacities of the United Nations and its
family of international organizations to develop the infrastructure and
political climate without which those in need would be outside the reach
of our compassion.
 Providing opportunities for dialogue between the industrialized
countries and the developing nations is another important role played by
the United Nations, which is particularly important to the United States
because many developing nations regard the UN system as the most
important arena for their foreign relations.  Moreover, these nations
constitute more than two-thirds of the UN's membership and purchase more
than one-third of US exports.
 In the specialized UN agencies dealing with trade, commodities, and
investment, the United States seeks to expand the world economy in a way
compatible with its own free economic system and values.  In the
Economic and Social Council, the regional commissions, and the UN
Conference on Trade and Development, the United States has promoted an
open international trading-and-investment system and has insisted on
maintaining a strong role for the private sector in meeting the
development needs of all countries.
 The UN and its family of international organizations is a success story
for the West.  It embodies in its charter the same liberal democratic
values and principles that are found in the US Constitution and makes
them applicable to every UN member.  The UN system can be viewed as a
vehicle for putting those values and principles into practice on a
global scale.  As President Bush said in his State of the Union address
on January 29, 1991, "The leadership of the United Nations, once only a
hoped-for ideal, is now confirming its founders' vision."
 Direct Benefits.  Beyond benefits gained for US foreign policy
interests, the United States also gains direct economic, social, and
humanitarian benefits.  Large parts of US financial assistance to the UN
and its related agencies are returned to US companies through equipment
and supply sales and consulting services.  US support of the UN
Development Program encourages the growth of self-reliance and helps to
expand the markets for US goods and services.
 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) efforts to eliminate the
Mediter-ranean fruit fly from the Caribbean and Central America directly
benefit the US citrus industry.  Likewise, US cattle raisers have a
direct stake in FAO efforts to eliminate the bont tick, the carrier of a
threatening cattle disease, from the Caribbean.  FAO's voluntary,
non-binding Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides
benefits the US pesticide industry by encouraging other countries to
adopt pesticide-safety standards comparable to those in force in the
United States and thereby limit competitive advantages otherwise gained
by producers who reduce their costs by failing to observe adequate
labeling and safety standards.
 In 1985, UNICEF spent a total of $107 million on goods and services in
the United States.  UNICEF also furthers US humanitarian interests in
the developing world by mobilizing assistance from public and private
sources throughout the world for programs benefiting children and
mothers.
 As the world's most advanced nation, the United States has extensive
needs for immediate and reliable worldwide communication and, therefore,
relies on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).  It
facilitates international cooperation between member states and promotes
the development of efficient technical facilities in order to improve
international telecommunication services.  As the largest producer and
supplier of telecommunications equipment, the United States benefits
from the technical assistance extended to developing countries from
agencies such as the ITU.
 US maritime interests benefit directly from the International Maritime
Organization's work on standardization, safety-of-life-at-sea measures,
and ocean-anti-pollution programs.  Other US environmental interests are
supported by the UN Environmental Program, which serves as a catalyst in
bringing international attention to global and regional environmental
problems and helping countries develop their economies in
environmentally responsible ways.
 The World Meteorological Organization provides weather information to
persons from all spheres of US life-farmers, mariners, aviators, and
travelers.  Its work has significant economic and social impact on the
United States.
 Standards and recommended practices developed by the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) directly affect US commercial air
travel and favorably influence the US economic community, which supplies
the greatest share of aircraft and equipment world wide.  ICAO develops
the principles and techniques of international air navigation and
fosters the planning and development of international air transport to
ensure the safe and orderly growth of civil aviation.  It also promotes
standards for the control of noise and pollution from aircraft.  US
travelers by air and sea benefit from improved safety and security
standards developed by ICAO and the International Maritime Organization.
 The United States also benefits significantly from the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which serves  major US national security
and non-proliferation interests.  IAEA is charged under its statute with
two primary objectives:  through its program of technical cooperation,
it encourages the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, especially in the
fields of medicine, agriculture, and basic industry, and its program of
international safeguards inhibits the use of nuclear material for
non-peaceful purposes, thus helping to prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons.  IAEA also plays an active role in promoting international
cooperation in nuclear safety; it expanded its work in this area in
response to the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in April 1986.
 The UN also serves important US interests through the development and
enforcement of international treaties and conventions, such as those
designed to control drug abuse.  Given the high importance placed by the
United States on control of drug abuse and drug trafficking, the United
Nations provides a valuable forum to discuss and coordinate relevant
international actions.

US POLICY TOWARD THE UNITED NATIONS
The US Government recognizes the value of the United Nations for the
conduct of US foreign relations and for the direct benefits it provides
the United States and its people.
 The United States was a major force in the creation of the United
Nations in 1945.  The Senate, by a vote of 89 to 2, gave its consent to
the ratification of the UN Charter on July 28, 1945.  In December 1945,
the Senate and the House of Representatives, by unanimous votes,
requested that the United Nations make its headquarters in the United
States.  Since then, the United States has been a major participant;
however, the changing political makeup of the world following World War
II, particularly with the dismantling of the major European empires,
produced changes in the United Nations and in US approaches to UN
issues.
 As the United States has reasserted its leadership in multilateral
affairs and strengthened its influence in the United Nations and its
related agencies, it has promoted fiscal responsibility in the budgetary
process, increased the number of US nationals on staffs of international
organizations, and augmented private-sector involvement in UN programs
and activities.
 This initiative culminated in the UN approval of a package of sweeping
reforms in administrative and financial procedures in December 1986.
Those reforms enable the United Nations to perform its functions more
effectively and efficiently and give the major donors, including the
United States, a greater voice in determining how money is spent.  The

United States, through these structural reforms, has been able to
strengthen its influence within the UN system.
 The United States, in order to achieve its objectives at the United
Nations, has developed a number of closely related strategies.  The
first strategy recognizes that the UN system offers an excellent
opportunity to explain US views on important issues while spotlighting
unacceptable behavior by other countries.  Through speeches, frequent
rights of reply, and resolutions, the United States has gained increased
understanding for its policies on such issues as the role of the
entrepreneur, the right to private property, and human rights.
 The United States has partially succeeded in reducing bloc voting in
the United Nations and moderating the rhetoric and unreasonable demands
of bloc members.  If left unchecked, bloc voting tends to place policy
decisions in the hands of the most radical members of the bloc and
intensifies the immoderation of UN debates.  The US aims to appeal to
the individual interests of each bloc member as opposed to the often
imaginary benefits of bloc solidarity in support of radical and
impracticable demands.  In addition, this strategy attempts to link US
interests with those of other countries, thereby increasing the US
leverage.
 The United States also has pursued the universality principle with
respect to UN membership, stating that the United States would cease
participation in, and support for, any UN body that excluded Israel or
denied Israel the full privileges of membership.  This affirmation is
supported by congressional legislation that outlines the same principle
and calls for the same action by the United States if Israel is denied
full membership privileges in any of the UN bodies, agencies, or their
subsidiary components.
 In 1991, the UN took a decisive step long sought by the United States
when it repealed the determination appearing in UN resolution 3379 of
1975 that Zionism is a form of racism.  The assertion equating Zionism
with racism challenged the right of the State of Israel to exist and
undermined the integrity and even-handedness of the UN as an
international organization.  On December 12, 1991, the United States and
85 co-sponsors tabled a draft resolution which sought to revoke the
determination.  On December 16, 1991, this resolution was adopted by a
vote of 111 (US)-25-13 (with 15 absences).  This action by the General
Assembly was an extremely important step in restoring credibility to the
UN.
 Apart from approval of budgetary matters, General Assembly resolutions
are recommendatory and not binding on the members.  Binding decisions
concerning action with respect to threats to the peace and acts of
aggression can only be made by the Security Council, as in the case of
the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.  In that case, the UN Charter gives the
United States and the four other permanent members the right of veto.
The United States is thus the beneficiary of an important voting
privilege.
 US proposals for enhancing UN effectiveness include:

 --  Strengthening the role of the Security Council in the settlement of
disputes, particularly through more automatic referral to the Council in
situations of international tension;
 --  Strengthening the UN's peace-keeping capability, including the
development by member nations of trained national troop contingents for
quick deployment;
 --  Addressing disarmament and arms-control questions more effectively;
 --  Addressing human rights issues more effectively and equitably;
 --  Exploring ways to supplement the financing of international
programs with funds from international commerce, services, or resources;
 --  Improving the effectiveness of the United Nations through the
unitary UN concept which would eliminate overlap and duplication;
 --  Coordinating the technical assistance programs in various UN
agencies more effectively, including better delivery of humanitarian aid
and expanded efforts for evaluation, monitoring, and quality control;
 --  Improving the UN Secretariat, both in operations and quality of
personnel; and,
 --  Coordinating the participation in the UN system of various branches
of the US Government more effectively.

US Representation
The US Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York is headed by
the US Representative to the United Nations, with the rank of ambassador
extra-
ordinary and plenipotentiary.  The mission serves as the channel of
communication for the US Government with the UN organs, agencies, and
commissions at the UN headquarters and with the other permanent missions
accredited to the UN and the non-member observer missions.  The US
mission has a professional staff made up largely of career Foreign
Service officers, including specialists in public affairs and in
political, economic, social, financial, legal, and military issues.
 The United States also maintains missions in Geneva, Montreal, Nairobi,
Rome, and Vienna as well as offices in other cities where various UN
agencies are based.  All of these missions report to the Department of
State and receive guidance on all questions of policy from the President
through the Secretary of State.  Relations with the UN and its family of
agencies are coordinated by the Assistant Secretary of State for
International Organization Affairs.
 US delegations to the annual regular sessions of the General Assembly
include two members of the US Congress-one Democrat and one Republican,
selected in alternate years from the Senate and the House of
Representatives.  Delegations also include prominent US citizens from
fields outside the government.
 The US Mission to the United  Nations is located at 799 United Nations
Plaza, New York, NY  10017  (tel. [phone]).

Preamble to Charter of the United Nations
 We the Peoples of the United Nations Determined
 To Save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in
our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
 To Reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth
of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women of nations
large and small, and
 To establish conditions under which justice and respect for the
obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law
can be maintained, and
 To promote social progress and better standards of life in larger
freedom,
And for these ends
 To practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as
good neighbors, and
 To Unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
 To Ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of
methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common
interest, and
 To employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and
social advancement of all peoples,
Have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.
 Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representa-
tives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their
full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present
Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international
organization to be known as the United Nations.

179 Members of the United Nations1

Afghanistan (1946)
Albania (1955)
Algeria (1962)
Angola (1976)
Antigua and Barbuda (1981)
Argentina
Armenia (1992)
Australia
Austria (1955)
Azerbaijan (1992)
The Bahamas (1973)
Bahrain (1971)
Bangladesh (1974)
Barbados (1966)
Belarus (formerly  Byelorussian SSR)
Belgium
Belize (1981)
Benin (1960)
Bhutan (1971)
Bolivia
Bosnia-Hercegovina (1992)
Botswana (1966)
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam (1984)
Bulgaria (1955)
Burkina Faso (1960)
Burma (1948)
Burundi (1962)
Cambodia (1955)
Cameroon (1960)
Canada
Cape Verde (1975)
Central African Republic (1960)
Chad (1960)
Chile
China2
Colombia
Comoros (1975)
Congo (1960)
Costa Rica
Cote d'Ivoire (1960)
Croatia (1992)
Cuba
Cyprus (1960)
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
Djibouti (1977)
Dominica (1978)
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea (1968)
Estonia (1991)
Ethiopia
Fiji (1970)
Finland (1955)
France
Gabon (1960)
The Gambia (1965)
Georgia (1992)
Germany (1973)
Ghana (1957)
Greece
Grenada (1974)
Guatemala
Guinea (1958)
Guinea-Bissau (1974)
Guyana (1966)
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary (1955)
Iceland (1946)
India
Indonesia (1950)
Iran
Iraq
Ireland (1955)
Israel (1949)
Italy (1955)
Jamaica (1962)
Japan (1956)
Jordan (1955)
Kazakhstan (1992)
Kenya (1963)
Korea, North (1991)
Korea, South (1991)
Kuwait (1963)
Kyrgystan (1992)
Laos (1955)
Latvia (1991)
Lebanon
Lesotho (1966)
Liberia
Libya (1955)
Liechtenstein (1990)
Lithuania (1991)
Luxembourg
Madagascar (1960)
Malawi (1964)
Malaysia (1957)
Maldives (1965)
Mali (1960)
Malta (1964)
Marshall Islands (1991)
Mauritania (1961)
Mauritius (1968)
Mexico
Micronesia (1991)
Moldova (1992)
Mongolia (1961)
Morocco (1956)
Mozambique (1975)
Namibia (1990)
Nepal (1955)
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger (1960)
Nigeria (1960)
Norway
Oman (1971)
Pakistan (1947)
Panama
Papua New Guinea (1975)
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal (1955)
Qatar (1971)
Romania (1955)
Russia3
Rwanda (1962)
St. Kitts and Nevis (1983)
St. Lucia (1979)
St. Vincent and the Grenadines (1980)
Samoa (1976)
San Marino (1992)
Sao Tome and Principe (1975)
Saudi Arabia
Senegal (1960)
Seychelles (1976)
Sierra Leone (1961)
Singapore (1965)
Slovenia (1992)
Solomon Islands (1978)
Somalia (1960)
South Africa
Spain (1955)
Sri Lanka (1955)
Sudan (1956)
Suriname (1975)
Swaziland (1968)
Sweden (1946)
Syria
Tanzania (1961)
Tajikistan (1992)
Thailand (1946)
Togo (1960)
Trinidad and Tobago (1962)
Tunisia (1956)
Turkey
Turkmenistan (1992)
Uganda (1962)
Ukraine  (formerly Ukrainian SSR)
United Arab Emirates (1971)
United Kingdom
United States of America
Uruguay
Uzbekistan (1992)
Vanuatu (1981)
Venezuela
Vietnam (1977)
Yemen (1947)
Yugoslavia4
Zaire (1960)
Zambia (1964)
Zimbabwe (1980)

  1-Year in parentheses indicates date of admission; countries with no
date were original members in 1945.
  2-By Resolution 2758 (XXVI) of Oct. 25, 1971, the General Assembly
decided "to restore all its rights to the People's Republic of China and
to recognize the representative of its Government as the only legitimate
representative of China to the United Nations."
  3-In December 1991, Russia assumed the permanent Security Council seat
previously held by the USSR.
  4-The claim of Serbia-Montenegro to the seat of the former Socialist
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has not been generally recognized by the
other members of the UN.

UN Secretaries General:
Trygve Lie (Norway) -  Feb.  1, 1946-April 10, 1953
Dag Hammarskjold(Sweden) -  April 10, 1953-Sept. 18, 1961
U Thant (Burma) - Nov. 3, 1961-Dec. 31, 1971
(Initially appointed acting Secretary General; formally appointed
Secretary General Nov. 30, 1962.)
Kurt Waldheim (Austria) - Jan. 1, 1972-Dec. 31, 1981
Javier Perez de Cuellar (Peru) - Jan. 1, 1982-Dec. 31, 1991
Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt) - Jan. 1, 1992-present


US Representatives to the United Nations:
Edward R. Stettinius, Jr. - March 1946-June 1946
Hershel V. Johnson (acting) - June 1946-Jan. 1947
Warren R. Austin - Jan. 1947-Jan. 1953
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. - Jan. 1953-Sept. 1960
James J. Wadsworth - Sept. 1960-Jan. 1961
Adlai E. Stevenson - Jan. 1961-July 1965
Arthur J. Goldberg - July 1965-June 1968
George W. Ball - June 1968-Sept. 1968
James Russell Wiggins - Oct. 1968-Jan. 1969
Charles W. Yost - Jan. 1969-Feb. 1971
George Bush - Feb. 1971-Jan. 1973
John A. Scali - Feb. 1973-June 1975
Daniel P. Moynihan - June 1975-Feb. 1976
William W. Scranton - March 1976-Jan. 1977
Andrew Young - Jan. 1977-April 1979
Donald McHenry - April 1979-Jan. 1981
Jeane J. Kirkpatrick - Feb. 1981-April 1985
Vernon Walters - May 1985-Jan. 1989
Thomas R. Pickering - March 1989-May 1992
Edward J. Perkins - May 1992-present

Published by the US Department of State Bureau of Public Affairs  --
Office of Public Communication -- Washington, DC-- August  1992 --
Editor:  Joan Bigge -- Department of State Publication 8933 --
Background Notes Series

This material is in the public domain and may  be reprinted without
permission; citation of this source is appreciated.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing
Office, Washington, DC 20402.(###)



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