No Respect

At the U.N., few follow the U.S.

Which of these four countries cast the fewest votes with the U.S. at the United Nations last year?

a) North Korea

b) Albania

c) Mozambique

d) the Soviet Union

The answer is b, just one of the nuggets to be found in a statistical analysis, released by the U.S. Mission to the U.N. last week, of votes on contested issues before the General Assembly in 1983. Albania voted with the U.S. on only 4% of the votes studied; Laos, Viet Nam and Mozambique produced only slightly higher percentages. The study, requested by Congress last year, lends statistical support to the Reagan Administration's charge that the U.S. is isolated in an organization in which tiny nations that receive U.S. aid vote against it with impunity.

Last year the majority of U.N. members voted against Washington's position three times out of four. Among the rare reliable allies, Israel ranked first, siding with Washington 93% of the time, followed by Great Britain (84%) and West Germany (82%). Even within NATO, there were many partings of the way. Greece, for example, voted with its ally only 27% of the time. Other fair-weather friends: El Salvador (30%), Mexico (19%) and Zaire (26%). Egypt, which receives $2 billion a year in U.S. aid, was at odds with Washington three times out of four.

Nations that profess nonalignment supported the U.S. only 19% of the time. Perhaps most disturbing was the fact that despite the Soviets' occupation of Afghanistan and their downing of a Korean passenger jet, the U.S. was the only major country singled out for criticism by name in the last session (in resolutions criticizing Washington's ties with Israel and South Africa). Such American isolation is hardly new, says Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick. "The pattern of what might be called the U.S. in the minority," Kirkpatrick notes, "has persisted now for about two decades."

The U.N. itself disagreed, calculating that if unanimous votes are included, the U.S. is well within the mainstream, voting with the majority almost 70% of the time. Kirkpatrick concedes that there are many reasons for a country's vote besides East-West considerations. Says a Latin American delegate: "We're aware of the voting pattern. We're just not sure what the Americans want to prove."

To Kirkpatrick, the study reinforced her perennial plaint. As she said last week, "U.N. votes matter because they . . . affect widely held views about perceptions of power, about effectiveness, and about legitimacy." The Reagan Administration says that it will take U.N. votes into account when determining how to distribute foreign aid.