Voting and Politics in The General Assembly—continued from page 167
| Published date | 01 April 1961 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711786100200306 |
| Date | 01 April 1961 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
183
General
Assembly
which
precluded
any
possibility
of
a
strong
political
policy.
One
of
the
most
important
principles
suggested
by
the
Secretary-
General
was
that
participation
in
the
Force
would
not
be
open
to
the
Permanent
Members
of
the
Security
Council&dquo;
this
is
a
realistic
approach
but
one
which
further
emphasizes
the
weakness
of
a
para-military
force,
and,
of
course,
one
which
excludes
all
forms
of
punitive
measures
it
can,
however,
be
a
useful
device
for
enabling
smaller
States
to
handle
such
operations.
Mr.
Hammarskjoeld
has
thrown
&dquo;cold
water&dquo;
on
the
notion
of
a
permanent
United
Nations
Force.
This
conclusion
is
realistic
however
for
since
the
Organization
is
still
governed
by
selfish
national
interests
any
hope
of
collective
security
remains
a
myth.
Until
such
time
as
international
tensions
subside
and
nations
display
a
willingness
to
abate
their
claims
to
sovereignty
it
is
unlikely
that
an
effective
truly
International
Force
could
be
established.
An
International
Force
can
only
become
a
reality
when
the
rules
of
international
law
have
gained
sufficient
strength
to
diminish
the
effects
of
power
politics.
56
Winnipeg
Free
Press,
4th
August,
1960.
Voting
and
Politics
in
The
General
Assembly
—
continued from
page
167.
It
could
be
remedied
or
at
least
improved,
in
three
ways.
By
the
admission
of
all
excluded
states,
five
of
which
are
now
Communist ;
by
the
introduction
of
weighted
voting ;
and
by
the
growth
of
greater
independence
in
the
voting
practices
of America’s
allies.
Any
form
of
weighted
voting,
based
either
on
&dquo; population
governed &dquo;
or
&dquo; financial
contribution
&dquo;
or
some
combination
of
the
two,
would
increase
the
relative
strength
of
the
Communist
bloc3° ;
but
strictly
proportionate
weighting
by
population,
coupled
with
the
admission
of
Peking,
would
overdo
the
treatment,31
and
on
votes
requiring
a
two-thirds
majority,
restore
to
Russia
the
veto
on
international
action
which
she
enjoyed
when
such
action
was
monopolised
by
the
Security
Council.
The
purpose
of
this
article,
however,
is
not
to
discuss
the
future
of
the
United
Nations,
but
to
demonstrate
how
a
comprehensive
analysis
of
the
Assembly’s
membership
and
voting,
of
which
this
is
only
a
rudimentary
fore-runner,
could be
used
to
base
such
dis-
cussions
on
a
far
sounder
and
less
fanciful
foundation
than
that
on
which,
at
present,
they
so
often
rest.
30
See
page
162
above.
31
The
Communist
members
would
then
have,
on
present
population
figures,
900
million,
out
of
2,700
million.
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