Barking Less and Liking It More

Almost any United Nations gathering of the past year has seemed guaranteed to generate bitter recriminations--most often between rich and poor countries. Not this time, however. During the U.N.'s 15-day special session on Third World demands for a greater share of the globe's wealth, delegates on both sides of the issue traded cautious huzzas instead of hisses. "These are better times," declared Sudanese Foreign Minister Jamal Mohamed Ahmed. "We are talking to each other, not howling and barking at each other across fences." The U.S.'s new Ambassador to the U.N., Daniel Moynihan, heartily agreed: "We have shown that we can negotiate in good faith. Not least, we have shown that this can be done in the unique and indispensable setting of the U.N. This system works."

Conciliatory Tone. The object of all the extraordinary fellowship and good cheer was the 16-page resolution produced by the red-eyed delegates at 3:50 a.m. on the last day of the session. The ambitious document may well provide the guidelines for more than a decade of negotiations on the world's economic problems. Although it may be premature to expect the acrimony between the Third World and the West to disappear completely from U.N. forums, the tone and content of the resolution are far more conciliatory than anyone would have predicted even one month ago. The resolution, for example, contains more than two dozen references to the proposals made by the U.S. at the start of the session (TIME, Sept. 15), and it also draws heavily from the recommendations of recent Third World conferences. Moreover, it omits most of the accusatory rhetoric that so often placed the blame on the West for the problems of the developing states.

Among the document's main points are proposals to:

> Stabilize the income that developing countries earn from their exports.

> Obtain preferential treatment in industrial lands for the manufactured goods sold by developing countries.

> Improve the Third World's access to First World capital.

> Foster increased industrialization in the developing nations.

> Give those nations a greater voice in international organizations that deal with monetary and trade policy.

The resolution did not include a number of provisions that were pressed by the Third World countries but strongly opposed by the U.S. and the European Common Market. Among them: A binding commitment to "index," or link, the price of commodities to the price of industrial goods, and an endorsement of a "new international economic order." In turn, the U.S. and other industrial states dropped their opposition to possible price-stabilizing agreements by producers of commodities like copper and tin.

Although the resolution was accepted unanimously, several delegates voiced "reservations" to specific clauses. The U.S., for example, refused to endorse a Third World demand for a mandated hike in its foreign aid to .7% of its gross national product by 1980, which would mean tripling current American aid appropriations to about $10 billion a year. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Enders, leader of the U.S. negotiating team, explained that "the political base no longer exists" in the U.S. for aid programs on that scale. The Americans also voiced their objections to pledging an automatic slice of any new special drawing rights--the International Monetary Fund's "paper gold"--as development aid to the poorer countries.

In his speech to the 30th regular session of the U.N. General Assembly this week, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is expected to endorse the special session resolution and the promise of cooperation it is supposed to have fostered. The Administration, in fact, deserves much of the credit for the improved mood at the U.N. The lengthy proposals offered by the U.S. on the special session's opening day convinced many Third World moderates that they may have more to gain from quiet, pragmatic negotiating than from inflammatory rhetoric.

Deft Negotiator. Can this new spirit last? One encouraging factor is the change in the General Assembly's management. Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelaziz Bouteflika used his position as president of the 29th General Assembly aggressively to support the tactics of the Third World bloc. He wrenched procedural issues in a way that prevented South Africa from taking its seat and limited Israel's participation in the Palestinian debate. Bouteflika's blatant disregard for the tradition of presidential impartiality was one cause of former U.S. Ambassador John Scali's warning last year that a "tyranny of the majority" of underdeveloped, often tiny nations in the U.N. threatened to undermine U.S. support of the organization.

This year's General Assembly president is Luxembourg's Premier and Foreign Minister Gaston Thorn, 47, who is a deft negotiator--and compromiser. Thorn may be spared having to deal with some difficult issues. South Africa, for instance, will not immediately attempt to retake its seat in the Assembly, thus postponing a showdown between the Western nations, who insist that the U.N. should be open to all, and the Third World countries who voted to bar Pretoria's delegates during the Bouteflika era. For different reasons, Israel will also not be a seriously divisive issue. Syria will call for Israel's ouster, but Egypt and other moderate Arab states, in the wake of the Sinai accord, will probably pretend not to hear.

Stirred Passions. Of course many of the more than 125 items already on the assembly's agenda will stir some passions. Late last week, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to request the Security Council to reconsider North and South Viet Nam's applications for U.N. membership--vetoed last summer by the U.S., which has opposed admitting Saigon and Hanoi unless South Korea is also admitted. On the agenda are also the status of the U.N. Command in South Korea and the Cyprus issue --potentially controversial items. But the main focus of the session will be the proper relationship--and responsibilities--of the rich and poor nations, and there an apparently constructive dialogue has already begun.

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