Sukarno—First United Nations Drop-Out
| Published date | 01 June 1965 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206502000205 |
| Author | Alastair M. Taylor |
| Date | 01 June 1965 |
| Subject Matter | Notes and Comment |
Notes
and
Comment
Alastair
M.
Taylor,
Queen's
University
Sukarno-First
United
Nations
Drop-out
"Go
to
hell
with
your
aid,"
President
Sukarno
told
the
United
States
Government
last
year,
and
on
7
January
1965
he
consigned
the
United
Nations-albeit
in
somewhat
more
diplomatic
language-to
the
same
fate.
Thus
the
country
which,
when
it
was
unanimously
elected
as
the
60th
Member
of
the
world Organization
on
25
September
1950,
had
been
appropriately
described
by
its
sponsor,
India, as
"the
child of
the
United
Nations,"
became
the
first
to
remove
its
flag
from
the
115
which
by
this time
provided
a
proud
colour-guard
flanking
the
General
Assembly
Hall.
This
unprecedented
action
has
had
worldwide
repercussions.
Peking
applauded
Sukarno's
move,
Moscow
disapproved.
The
General
Assem-
bly's
current
President,
Alex
Quaison-Sackey
of
Ghana,
personally
ap-
pealed
in
the
name
of African-Asian
solidarity
for
Indonesia to
recon-
sider.
In
Canada,
Professor
Colwyn
Williams
was quoted
as
saying
that
he
doubted
if any
Member
could
legally
withdraw from
the
United
Nations.l
Dr.
Louis Sohn,
Professor
of
International
Law
at
Harvard
University,
recommended
an
economic
blockade
of
the
Indonesian
archi-
pelago
to
force
Sukarno
to
return
to
the
world
Organization.
And
from
the
United
Nations,
the
Secretary-General
called
on
Sukarno not
to
withdraw
his
Government's
co-operation
from
the
Organization
which
had
just
inaugurated
International
Co-operation
Year.
To
no
avail.
On
21
January,
U
Thant
was
apprised
of
Indonesia's
formal
withdrawal
(though
in
order
to
wind
up
the
affairs
of
the
Indonesian
Permanent
Mission
at
New
York
and
the
United
Nations
premises in
Djakarta,
those
offices
would
close on
1
March
1965).
In
addition,
the
Secretary-
General was
informed
that
Indonesia
had withdrawn
"from
Specialized
Agencies
like
FAO,
UNICEF
and
uNEsco"-a
decision
which
Indonesia's
ramshackle
economy
could
ill
afford,
since
it
thereby
tossed aside
some
$50
million
earmarked
for
economic
and
technical
assistance from
inter-
national
sources.
I
Why
has Sukarno
become
the initial
drop-out
from
an
Organization
which
not
only
was
the
chief
instrument
in
bringing
about
the
transfer
of
sovereignty
to
Indonesia
in
1949,
but again,
in
1962-63,
accepted im-
portant
political
and
administrative
responsibilities
to
ensure
that
West-
ern
New
Guinea
passed
under
Indonesian control?
2
According
to
1
The
Globe
and
Mail
(Toronto),
January
19,
1965.
2
The
author
has dealt
with
these two
aspects
of
the
Organization's
activities
In
Indonesian
Indepedence
and
the United
Nations
(New
York,
1960)
and
"
'Nederlands
Nieuw-Guinea'
Becomes
'Irian
Barat.'
"
International
Journal,
Vol.
XVII,
No.
4,
Autumn
1962.
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