Jeffrey Garofalo

NYU-Assignment 1

Charter Amendments

Since the signing of the Charter of the United Nations on 26 June 1945, there have been only three formal amendments modifying the original intentions of the founders of this international organization. The first two amendments, ratified in 1965, expanded membership in both the Security Council (from eleven to fifteen members) and the Economic and Social Council (from eighteen to twenty seven members).  The final amendment, which came into effect in 1973, further enlarged the Economic and Social Council to fifty-four members. While each of these amendments were justified, due to their greater political representation, the ideals of these enactments were never fully realized because of the harsh realities of the Cold War and due to the proclivity of nations to practice realpolitik in international affairs.

The amendments to the Charter were a testament to the determination of the African, Asian and Eastern European countries in gaining greater representation within the organs of the United Nations.  As an instrument to serve the needs of the peoples of the world, while maintaining peace and security in all corners of the globe, the small nations saw in the United Nations the promise for greater progress and prosperity.  By expanding representation in the United Nations, the small countries hoped to protect their interests, achieve greater economic opportunity, and to join with the "great" powers in building a better world.

These ideals have been overshadowed by the realities of international relations. After the creation of the United Nations and the subsequent amendments providing for greater representation, world affairs have been governed, not by what Woodrow Wilson hoped would be nations "abjuring their national interests" for their concern for the welfare of others but by what Cardinal de Richelieu would have recognized as realpolitik. With the arrival of the Cold War, two competing political and economic systems paralyzed any efforts toward progressive global administration. For the United Nations,

whose very success and failure is predicated on concord and as Dr. Henry Kissenger argued in Diplomacy, "the overwhelming consensus" of its sovereign members, the developments of the post war world left the organization virtually ineffectual in the affairs of the international community.

In conclusion, the amendments to the Charter were certainly relevant in advancing democracy in the international arena, but this greater representation was diminished by the realities of the post war world. While efforts to further broaden representation in the organs of the U.N. was certainly warranted, these efforts would have been paralyzed by the bipolar power struggle.