The student of the United Nations General Assembly faces a “level of analysis” problem of his own. He can concentrate in his research on one of three aspects of the Organization: 1) the results of its deliberations; 2) the voting patterns within the Assembly; or 3) the political process which produces both the results and the voting patterns. Traditional analyses often adopt the first approach; statistically oriented political scientists have recently concentrated on the second. Very little systematic work has been done, however, on the political process: the exercise of political influence in the service of national policies.

The report of the United Nations Association (UNA) National Policy Panel on China, The United Nations and United States Policy is one of the most thoughtful and responsible documents to emerge from the many discussions of this subject that have been going on all over the country in recent months.

The nineteenth (1964–1965) session of the General Assembly was virtually deadlocked over the financial crisis, a crisis which arose as a result of disagreement between the Members about how the United Nations peacekeeping operations were to be financed. Three years earlier, in 1961, the General Assembly, having been informed of the substantial arrears in the payment of assessments, mainly for the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) and the United Nations Operation in the Congo (ONUC), adopted on December 20, a resolution asking the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion as to whether the expenditures authorized for the UNEF and ONUC operations constituted “expenses of the Organization” within the meaning of Article 17, paragraph 2, of the United Nations Charter. On December 19, 1962, the Assembly voted to accept the advisory opinion of the Court to the effect that the expenditures of these operations constituted “expenses of the Organization” within the meaning of Article 17 (2) of the Charter. However, attempts to extract the arrears from the defaulting states, the largest of which were the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union) and France, on the strength of the Court's advisory opinion, largely failed; and the matter came to a head at the nineteenth session of the General Assembly when some Members, notably the United States, proposed that sanctions under Article 19 of the Charter be taken against the defaulting states. The crisis was finally averted toward the end of the nineteenth session when the United States decided not to pursue the question of sanctions.

The salary, allowance, and benefits system common in its broad lines to the United Nations and to a number of specialized agencies (the “common system”) has its origin in the relationship agreements concluded between the UN and the agencies concerned in pursuance of Articles 57 and 63 of the UN Charter. Some of these agreements were made nearly twenty years ago, a long period in the life of rapidly growing and rapidly changing international organizations. A critical examination of the present-day validity of the common system and its justification today in light of the reality of the international organization may be timely. In the present article such an examination of this major facet of administrative and budgetary coordination of the UN with the specialized agencies is attempted.

“To maintain international peace and security …” is the first purpose listed in Article I of the United Nations Charter, and it is generally conceded to be the Organization's most important one. Although the United Nations Charter provides procedures for both peaceful settlement and peacekeeping, the peacekeeping role has been more active and more contentious. Indeed, without an authoritative organ for interpreting the Charter each Member has been left to determine for itself the meaning of such fluid phrases as “enforcement action,” “national sovereignty,” and “primary responsibility,” to mention only a few. The result has been a divergence of views which surprises all but that consummate logician—the reasonable man.

Listed below is the membership of United Nations bodies for 1967. Unless otherwise noted, membership expires on December 31 of the year indicated in parentheses. Where names of individuals are listed, the members serve in their personal capacities and not as representatives of states; their nationalities are given for information only.

The General Assembly held its 21st session, comprising the 1409th–1501st plenary meetings, at UN Headquarters from September 20 to December 20, 1966, during which time it took action on 98 agenda items and adopted 115 resolutions. During the session the Assembly unanimously admitted four new states to UN membership: Guyana on September 20, Botswana and Lesotho on October 17, and Barbados on December 9, 1966. In accordance with a telegram of September 19 from the Ambassador of Indonesia to the United States addressed to the Secretary-General in which he stated that his government had decided to resume full cooperation with the United Nations and to resume participation in its activities starting with the 21st session of the Assembly and upon the Assembly's expression of its agreement to that effect Indonesia resumed full participation in the work of the UN on September 28. The Organization's total membership thereby reached 122 during the session.