THE NATIONS TOGETHER
THE UNITED NATIONS, by H. G. Nicholas; Oxford University Press, English price 21/-. S the continued existence of United Nations is as certain as that of most of its members it is fruitless to argue whether it is a good or bad thing. This analysis therefore is historical and descriptive and, only in matters of detail. censorial. Where praise and blame are allocated there are no illusions about the organisation and -the underlying realities.-of power. Nicholas shows that as an instrument of collective security it has failed to live up to the letter of its Charter and its guarantees and claims are "less solid than its founders anticipated... How much on any given occasion the U.N. will itself undertake depends entirely on how much resolve and strength its members put into it." This realisation is the beginning of wisdom about the U.N.. Too often, by legislating what ought to be in world affairs, the nations have ignored the fact that what is remains unchanged, the problems unsolved. Emphasis on political realities does not mean, however, that we should hallow them. Nicholas occasionally makes this mistake. For example, one of his criticisms of the proposal for population weighted voting in the Assembly is that it would sanctify majorities and endow the U.N. with more power at the expense of its members. The present system, he says, "does represent an important reality, the sovereignty of member states." Later, his own best critic, he deplores a tendency to work for superficial voting victories in the Assembly when what really matters is the brig of world opinion and world power. This is precisely the argument of the advocates of weighted voting. Lavergne has complained, "one member one vote" means "one Bedouin camel driver is worth 43 Frenchmen and 51 Englishmen!" But occasions for doubt about Nicholas’s conclusions are few, and as his premises are always made clear he is never misleading. This is sober, informed comment on an important political
institution,
R.J.
H.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 41, Issue 1053, 30 October 1959, Page 15
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332THE NATIONS TOGETHER New Zealand Listener, Volume 41, Issue 1053, 30 October 1959, Page 15
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