World Notes: United Nations

The formal result of the meeting was a bland resolution urging expansion of United Nations peacekeeping efforts. But the mere fact that the first ever summit meeting of the Security Council convened testified to the U.N.'s growing clout. Of the 15 members, 13 sent heads of government; two grabbed the spotlight. Russian President Boris Yeltsin was trying to shed his image as a hard-drinking oaf. Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng was trying to shed his pariah status as the Butcher of Beijing.

Yeltsin came across as a serious statesman, repeating sweeping disarmament proposals and adding an intriguing suggestion: a global missile-defense system that would blend Russian defense technology into the U.S. Star Wars program. Having just decreed the release of the last 10, he boasted that "there are no more prisoners of conscience in free Russia." But if Yeltsin earned high marks, Li barely passed. Despite support in the final summit declaration of "respect for human rights," Li denounced such concerns as "an excuse" for interference in a country's internal affairs.