The history of the membership controversy in the United Nations
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Political Science, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Simpson, Robert Vernon
issued: 2012-03-01T17:14:20Z
issued: 1951
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: The aim of this thesis is to show that, although the various phases of the membership controversy are fundamentally a part of the overall Soviet -Western crisis, the immediate reason for their development stems not only from the dominant position that the United States occupies internationally but as well from the extreme overbalance of representation in the United Nations in favour of the Americas. This situation, not the free use of the veto by the Soviet Union, is mainly responsible for the stalemate in the admission of new members. The Soviet Union has felt compelled to use its veto lavishly in an effort to protect and strengthen its minority role in the United Nations. It is because the USSR regards the veto in this light that any suggestion to abolish it as far as admission of new members is concerned is completely impractical. The issue would not be of primary import if the Western States had used their preponderant voting power responsibly and the practice of bloc voting had not become such a prominent feature of the United Nations. But these developments which are partially attributable to the existing state of international tension have made the membership composition of the United Nations a matter of great concern, especially to the USSR. In these circumstances it is not surprising that Article 4 has received little more than lip service. Both the Soviet and Western blocs have set up a standard of admission for their own candidates which differs substantially from that applied to candidates of the other. This has left each side open to charges of discrimination and neither has been slow in pointing out the iniquities of the other's obstinacy. In the eyes of the Secretary General of the United Nations, who is well qualified to judge, all the disappointed applicants would qualify if the standard set by Article 4 was administered reasonably. In harmony with this view the USSR has offered what seems to be the only fair compromise, that it will vote for the We…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/41038
note: a f t frx THE HISTORY OF THE MEMBERSHIP CONTROVERSY IN THE UNITED NATIONS by ROBERT'VERNON SIMPSON A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS We accept this thesis as conforming to the in the Department of POLITICAL SCIENCE /Members of the Department of THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April, 1951 Abstract of The History of the Membership Controversy in the United Nations by R.Vo Simpson. The aim of this thesis is to show that,although the various phases of the membership controversy are fundamentally a part of the overall Soviet -Western crisis, the immediate reason for their development stems not only from the dominant position that the United States occupies internationally but as well from the extreme overbalance of representation in the United Nations in favour of the Americas. This situation,not the free use of the veto by the Soviet Union,is mainly responsible for the stalemate in the admission of new members. The Soviet Union has felt compelled to use its veto lavishly in an effort to protect and strengthen its minority role in the United Nations. It is because the USSR regards the veto in this light that any suggestion to abolish i t as far as admission of new members is concerned is completely impractical. The issue would not be of primary import i f the Western States had used their preponderant voting power responsibly and the practice of bloc voting had not become such a prominent feature of the United Nations. But these developments which are partially attributable to the existing state of international tension have made the membership composition of the United Nations a matter of great concern, especially to the USSR. In these circumstances i t is not surprising that Article 4 has received l i t t l e more than lip service. Both the Soviet and Western blocs have set up a standard of admission for their own candidates which differs substant-ially from that applied to candidates of the other. This has…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0106593
language: eng
degree discipline: Political Science
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/41038