The Soviet Bloc and the United Nations System: the Quantitative Record

Abstract

THIS STUDY has two major purposes: (1) to estimate the relative degree of support of the Soviet Bloc for the United Nations system and (2) to test the hypothesis that the Bloc has become more supportive of this system in the post-Stalin era. These tasks are pursued here by the use of quantitative data, systematically collected. The specific indicators chosen were votes to approve or disapprove of general United Nations budgets, proposals to reduce or delete funds from four of these budgets, votes on nineteen drafts to continue with old projects or initiate new ones, memberships in Specialized Agencies, adherence to the optional clause of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and votes to finance and support the United Nations Organization in the Congo (ONUC) and the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF). The data are thought to be sufficient in number and to cover an adequate time span to provide a broad base for making judgments. Moreover, they possess the necessary flexibility for comparing Bloc behavior with that of other groups. There already exists a considerable body of descriptive literature on Soviet policy toward the United Nations less on Bloc policies and those toward international organizations in general. Although other sources were consulted in preparing this study,' the three book-length works by Dallin, Jacobson, and Rubenstein were singled out for separate and unequal treatment because of thier obvious scholarship and thoroughness.2 Furthermore, they provide a topical mix, the