Embarrassed & Embittered

The current session of the General Assembly has been the least productive of any in the U.N.'s 19 years. Not only did the Assembly meet 2 1/2 months late, but once it had gotten together, it could not adopt an agenda, it could not begin debate on its budget, and even the filling of such recherche posts as the secretary-generalship of UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) required bizarre behind-the-scenes maneuvering. Last week the Assembly's 114 delegates found themselves stealthily marking unofficial secret ballots in a tiny alcove off the vast Assembly Hall to decide whether Gabon or Guinea would fill the final seat of ECOSOC (the six-member Economic and Social Council).

The problem, of course, is the "payments crisis." Russia, France and eleven other U.N. members refuse to ante up for U.N. peace-keeping operations in the Congo and the Middle East. The U.S., which originally hoped to embarrass the recalcitrants by invoking Article 19,* is now reluctant to force a confrontation for fear it might wreck the entire organization. If any Assembly item came to a vote, the U.S. would feel compelled on principle to invoke Article 19 against Russia, France and the others. Hence the Assembly could not risk a formal vote on anything.

Last week, as the U.N. painfully struggled through another week of nonconfrontation, many delegates were looking forward to the lengthy recess promised by Assembly President Alex Quaison-Sackey of Ghana, during which--hopefully--the payments crisis would be resolved and a new peace-keeping formula devised. Still, amid warnings from within and without that they may be attending the funeral of the U.N., many embarrassed and embittered delegates were calling the organization by a new name: "Procrasti-Nations."

* Which states that any member more than two years in arrears on assessments shall be deprived of an Assembly vote.

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