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toward the U.N. should lower its sights about unrealistic objectives and raise them about essential demands. It is my conviction that both the U.N. and United States will be better served by such a policy on our part.

Thank you.

[Mr. Goldberg's prepared statement follows:]

PREPARED TESTIMONY OF ARTHUR J. GOLDBERG*

THE U.S. ROLE IN THE U.N.: VISION AND REALITY

I thank this distinguished Committee for the opportunity to present my views on this important subject.

The United States in relation to the United Nations expects too much and demands too little. This dichotomy requires an explanation.

The people of this country expect the UN to fulfill its great goal-to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.

This great concept of the unity of nations to keep the peace and achieve universal economic justice was born out of the optimism of history in World War II. It reflected the conception that the World War II partners of different political systems and widely diversified ideologies would submerge their differences in the interests of international peace, security, and progress and would yield enough of their sovereignty to enable the world organization to take effective and collective action to these ends.

Regrettably, the optimism of the Charter turned out to be excessive. American expectations also were founded on a lack of appreciation of what what was already under way when the victorious powers met in San Francisco to adopt the UN Charter-the end of colonialism and the emergence of more new nations than those assembled in the Opera House.

The majority of the nations which met in San Francisco to adopt the UN Charter were of the West; the Communist bloc was in the minority, and the third world was virtually non-existent. Thus, in the early days of the United Nations, it is not too much to say that we and our Western allies ran the show. Although we had advance warning as a result of experiences with the Soviet Union during World War II, we did not anticipate the hostile attitude of the Soviets and their satellites at the UN; and we certainly did not foresee the intense resentment of the new nations to colonial powers and the fact that they regarded us to be one. After all, we were in the vanguard to free India from British rule and Indonesia from Dutch domination, and the same was true of some other countries.

I need not detail what is a matter of record, the declining influence of the United States in the United Nations as a result of these developments.

We lost our majority in the General Assembly to the third world and to the Communist bloc, which has all too often exploited the grievances, justified or without warrant, of the new nations, newly freed from colonialism.

Life at the United Nations, therefore, has become increasingly difficult for the Representatives of the United States to the United Nations. All of them have smarted under attacks, some justified and some unjustified, against the United States. And all, I am sure, nostalgically recall the halcyon days when the United States and its allies were the UN majority.

Our response to this change is understandable, if not always wise. This response is the product of frustration. Why should the United States be singled out for attacks which, by our lights, the Soviets on many counts merit far more than we? We, like all nations, are a proud country, and properly so; nations, like people, do not relish insults, even of a rhetorical kind. We may console ourselves by the old saying-sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you but we do not like to be called bad names. Nations, like persons, are human after all.

Dr. Patrick Moynihan, who, according to press reports, will be our next Representative to the UN, has recently written an article for Community Magazine in which he says, in effect, that we have been delinquent in not facing up to

*Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, 1965-1968.

these attacks forthrightly, rebutting them and putting our policies in proper context. My friend and former colleague, Dr. Moynihan, is mistaken in this regard. Every American Representative to the UN from its beginnings has attempted to do this.

After reading Dr. Moynihan's article, I reviewed my own speech-made at the UN-a painful task in light of the number of the speeches I delivered during three years of tenure. Upon re-reading this record. I found that it is replete with the exercise by me of my right to reply-replies addressed not only to the Communist bloc but to a great many of the third world nations as well.

But the problem extends beyond rhetorical exchanges. These, however, distasteful, can be lived with, particularly since the General Assembly constitutionally can only recommend. It is the Security Council which decides and there we have a veto.

But the General Assembly and some of the specialized agencies of the UN, such as Unesco, recently have gone beyond words. They have been taking action in violation of the UN Charter and this, along with other shortcomings and failures of the UN, warrants a reassessment by us of American attitudes toward the world organization.

I have come to the conclusion, expressed in my opening sentence, that we must moderate our expectations as to the UN's capacities to make and keep the peace in this troubled world and ensure economic and social justice. We must accept the UN for what it is-a useful instrument to implement a political consensus, by the super-powers in particular; a forum to ventilate grievances by the third world; and an agency to study and promote economic and social progress. The United Nations is not a world government, and, though important and at times helpful in keeping the peace and providing economic and social aid and assistance, its capacities, even in these areas, are limited.

But while moderating undue expectations, we must also insist upon observance by all nations of the fundamental provisions of the UN Charter when action is taken.

We must not demand too little of the UN and its specialized agencies, while recognizing the limitations of the United Nations.

Specifically, we have the right to demand that all member states refrain from unconstitutional action-action contrary to the explicit provisions of the Charters of the United Nations and its agencies.

Let me illustrate by a simple example: There is a movement under way to deny Israel its proper place in the General Assembly and in the specialized agencies.

Action of this character is plainly unconstitutional and contrary to the Charter. Under Chapter Two of the Charter, a member of the United Nations "may be expelled from the exercise of the rights and privileges of membership by the General Assembly [only] upon the recommendation of the Security Council." This is a very plain provision. One need not be an international lawyer or jurist to interpret it. The General Assembly is simply without power to exclude a member from its deliberations until and unless the Security Council so recommends.

The United States, therefore, has every right to insist that this provision not be annulled by majority at the Assembly. The United States and a few Western powers did vote against the exclusion of South Africa from last year's General Assembly deliberations. I hold no brief for South Africa; its apartheid policy is utterly abhorent to me, as I made clear during my tenure at the UN. But South Africa, notwithstanding, like all member states, is entitled to constitutional due process, and it was denied.

In any event, Israel does not practice apartheid. The Security Council has made no finding that Israel has not complied with Resolution 242, the bedrock of a Middle East settlement. No ground, therefore, exists for Israel's exclusion from the General Assembly or the specialized agencies of the UN.

The United States, if it is faithful to the UN Charter, has the right, therefore, to demand that the proposal to deny Israel its proper place in the Assembly be abandoned as unconstitutional. And, to make this demand creditable, the United States should make it clear, before this proposal gains further momentum, that, if Israel is unlawfully denied its proper seat in the Assembly, the United States will not only vote against but, if the Assembly notwithstanding persists, will not participate in the Assembly deliberations. (It goes almost without saying that we should keep our Security Council seat, not repeating the great Soviet mistake at the time of the Korean conflict.)

I believe that a firm declaration to this effect by the United States, not by way of threat but by a simple statement of intention, would suffice to bring home to all concerned that we are serious about observance of the Charter provisions about the rights of members which, like the franchise in our democracy, goes to the very basis of the UN's existence. But if such action by the United States does not appear likely to ensure Charter compliance, we should also make it clear that we are prepared to take the further step of freezing our pro-rata contribution to Assembly expenses if Israel is illegally denied its seat in the Assembly.

Under ordinary circumstances, I am not a great advocate of swinging a big stick; but the United Nations will not survive if its basic law is violated by a majority in a matter of transcendent importance, such as the rights of members. There is another thing we have a right to demand. We have a right to insist that the Secretary General forthrightly declare against this and other egregious violations of the Charter. The Secretary General is the principal executive officer of the United Nations. He is its leader and in a very real sense is the custodian of the Charter. A timely declaration by the Secretary General on occasion may offend the majority or the minority, depending upon the circumstances, but a Secretary General should attempt to please the majority, or us, or anyone else where the integrity of the Charter is at issue.

It is far more likely that the United Nations will sustain irreparable harm from excessive caution on the part of the Secretary General than from courage in insisting on compliance by all member states with the fundamental law of the organization.

I conclude by reiterating my thesis. American foreign policy towards the UN should lower its sights about unrealistic objectives and raise them about essential demands. Both the United Nations and the United States will be better served by such a policy.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Justice.

Now Ambassador Yost. Ambassador Yost has been connected with the U.N. a long, long time and we are delighted to have you here today. STATEMENT OF CHARLES W. YOST, FORMER U.S. PERMANENT

REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS

Mr. YoST. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a brief oral statement to make. I don't have a written statement but I would very much appreciate it if there might be placed in the record copies of two magazine articles which I recently wrote dealing with the present and future of the U.N., one in the Saturday Review and one in the New Republic.

The CHAIRMAN. We have those articles and without objection they will be printed in the record.

[The information referred to follows:]

[From the New Republic, Dec. 28, 1974]

CLASH OF THE "TWO MAJORITIES"

(By Charles W. Yost*)

In an address to the United Nations General Assembly in December the U.S. representative John Scali spoke bitterly of the "tyranny of the majority," noted that "every majority must recognize that its authority does not extend beyond the point where the minority becomes so outraged that it is no longer willing to maintain the covenant which binds them," and concluded that in consequence of recent majority behavior in the Assembly, American support of the United Nations is eroding-in our Congress and among our people."

Somewhat similar speeches were made on the same day by representatives of France, Britain, West Germany, Italy, Sweden and Belgium.

*Charles W. Yost, former U.S. Ambassador to Syria and Morocco, served as chief U.S. representative to the United Nations, 1967-1971.

What occasioned this concerted outburst of indignation by the developed countries? Their frustrations have been building up for some time but were confirmed this year by actions of the majority on these subjects: international economic relations, South Africa and the Palestinians.

As to the first, the assembly adopted by a vote of 120 to 6 a "Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States" proposed by the President of Mexico. Among the handful of negative votes were those of the U.S., West Germany and Britain, and among the few abstainers Japan, France and Canada. In other words this is a charter that asserts the rights of the less developed countries and the duties of the developed but does not, in the view of the latter, adequately protect their rights or the interests of their private investors. As Ambassador Scali said: "the minority which is so often offended may in fact be a practical majority, in terms of its capacity to support this organization and implement its decisions."

On the second subject, a proposal to expel South Africa from the United Nations under procedures laid down in the UN charter was vetoed in the Security Council by the U.S., France and Britain. The Assembly majority thereupon proceeded to deny the South African delegate his seat in the current Assembly on very dubious procedural grounds.

Finally, and this action was the most provocative, the Assembly majority voted that, for the first time in the history of the organization, a spokesman not representing a member government might participate in an Assembly debate. This spokesman, moreover, Yasir Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, was accorded the honors not merely of a delegate but of a chief of state. To add insult to injury the Israeli repesentative, who wished to rebut seriatim his numerous adversaries in the debate, was prevented from doing so by a ruling of the Algerian Assembly president, which when challenged was upheld by the majority.

Coincidentally, the same majority in UNESCO, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which is supposedly nonpolitical, cut off support for regional programs in Israel on the grounds that Israel, in definiance of UN injunctions, is altering the physical and cultural character of Jerusalem.

These were the actions that the Western ambassadors so rigorously attacked and that provoked such angry reactions among press and public in several countries. For example, Switzerland reduced its contribution to UNESCO by 10 percent, and on December 10, 71 U.S. Senators joined in declaring the PLO a "direct threat" to the foreign policy of the United States.

Were these strong reactions justified? To some extent they certainly were. But in fairness to the Third World majority their intemperate actions, rather than being matched by equally intemperate Western responses, should be examined dispassionately and with some perspective. In order to do so one needs to cast a glance at recent history.

First, as Ambassador Scali reminded his audience, the UN Assembly is not a legislative body. It cannot enact laws. Except in regard to internal procedural and budgetary matters, its resolutions are not binding on member states. What they are is a public expression of the opinions of a majority of member governments, in many though not in all cases representing a large majority of mankind. As Dag Hammarskjold used to say the Assembly is "a reflection of the world as it is" not as we might like it to be. In that sense it is worth listening to, if we wish not to deceive ourselves about the state of the real world. Adlai Stevenson once remarked in this connection that what the United States needs most is a hearing aid.

Second, we should not forget that from 1945 to 1960 the overwhelming majority in the United Nations consisted of Western Europeans and Latin Americans. Those were the days when the Soviet Union and the few nonaligned member states repeatedly protested "the tyranny of the majority." But we had then no qualms about passing resolutions over their strong objections. Now the shoe is on the other foot, and we are crying foul.

The history of the three issues that have provoked the present excitement also needs to be kept in mind.

Ever since the less developed countries became the majority they have been passing resolutions calling on the rich to assist much more substantially in their development, to improve the terms of trade that have until recently been heavily in their disfavor, and to police multinational corporations, which they believe have in many cases exploited them. The fact that there has been only a very modest response to these repeated appeals accounts in substantial part for the

recent quadrupling of oil prices by OPEC, for the wave of nationalizations of foreign properties, particularly in Latin America, and for the one-sided resolutions on these subjects adopted by the UN Assembly.

As to South Africa, it should be recalled that the Assembly and the Security Council have for many years been passing resolutions, which the U.S. has almost always supported and only two or three states have opposed, calling on South Africa to abandon its policy of apartheid or racial segregation.

Yet practically nothing has happened. Apartheid remains as firmly entrenched as ever. Efforts to impose sanctions on South Africa or to expel it legally are blocked by vetoes in the Security Council. The procedural device adopted to deprive South Africa's delegate of his seat in the present Assembly was, therefore, while legally improper and politically unwise, a symbolic expression of long pentup frustration on an issue that deeply affronts the human dignity of all the nonwhite members of the United Nations.

The questions revolving around the Palestine Liberation Organization likewise raise issues carrying an enormous emotional charge; there is no doubt that, just as much of the world community experienced a deep sense of guilt for having failed to prevent the holocaust of the Jews, so have many, particularly in the Third World, felt a growing sense of guilt for having allowed two generations of Palestine refugees to pass their lives in economic squalor and a political vacuum. A very large majority of UN members now clearly feels that, just as Israel is entitled to self-determination, independence and secure sovereignty, so too are the Palestinians,

Had this problem been squarely faced and decisively dealt with some years ago, it might have been resolved within the framework of the Jordanian state. Having been neglected too long, the initiative passed, as has been the case in many other emerging nations, into the hands of ultra-nationalists and revolutionaries willing to use terror to achieve "liberation." Outrageous as terrorism is, we must not forget that it has been used in similar struggles by French revolutionaries, Russians, Yugoslavs, Israelis, Algerians and many others, and is even now a daily practice among both Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. This does not excuse it but helps explain why it is tolerated. To the great majority of UN members, Arafat is the fighting leader of an oppressed people, and it was in that capacity that he was recognized and honored.

Even the many who do not consider these explanations and parallels sufficient excuse for "irresponsible" behavior by the General Assembly would do well to recall the not insignificant accomplishments of the United Nations, not those of the distant past but those of 1974,

Valuable UN peacekeeping capabilities have again been demonstrated in the Middle East by the establishment of multinational forces in the Sinai and on the Golan Heights, forces that now play an important part in maintaining the fragile peace in the area and that, if there is to be a political settlement, will no doubt be an indispensible element in it. Moreover the Soviet Union has in this case for the first time joined in creating and paying for such a force and is co-chairing the UN-sponsored Geneva Conference. Through the UN, it is thus deeply and usefully involved in the peacemaking process. A similar UN force in Cyprus was helpful in preventing last summer's conflict from doing even more harm than it did and remains a partial barrier to further hostilities.

Even the General Assembly, so bitterly reproached for one-sidedness, has during the past month upheld the US position by narrow margins on two critical Asian issues: the representation of Cambodia and the maintenance of a UN command in Korea.

Of far more long-range significance were three UN conferences held this year on matters of profoundest import: the law of the sea conference in Caracas, the population conference in Bucharest and the food conference in Rome. It is true that none of these did more than begin to resolve these problemsby defining their magnitude, by proposing, and debating means of dealing with them, and by exposing clearly the disastrous consequences of failing to cope. But had the United Nations and its family of economic agencies not existed, it is doubtful that even this beginning would have been made.

It is indeed in this economic area of urgent international concern that the future indispensibility of the United Nations most probably lies, even more than in its traditional peacekeeping role. It is becoming ever clearer that the survival of organized and civilized human society into the 21st century depends on controlling population growth, assuring adequate and accessible supplies of food, fuel and fertilizer, developing and modernizing the underdeveloped two

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