Ahead of the UN General Assembly’s high-level week, the 193-member body remains a vital international stage for debating war, peace, development, climate change, and human rights, continuing a role it has occupied for more than eight decades according to globalissues.org.
Origins and Cold War Gridlock
When the United Nations was created in 1945 in the aftermath of the Second World War, its founders assumed that the Security Council would serve as the center of most decision-making, according to Richard Gowan, Director of UN and Multilateral Diplomacy at the International Crisis Group in New York, speaking in an interview with UN News. However, major powers in the Security Council quickly became divided, shifting numerous political discussions to the General Assembly.
During the 1940s and early 1950s, the General Assembly drove decisions regarding the Palestinian question and Korea while the Security Council faced frequent paralysis from Cold War tensions. Because most countries in the Assembly during that era were allies of the United States, Washington frequently turned to the body for support when the Security Council hit a gridlock, as seen when discussions regarding the Korean War moved to the Assembly.
A major test for the General Assembly arrived in 1956 during two simultaneous crises: the intervention by Britain and France over the Suez Canal and the Soviet invasion of Hungary. According to Gowan, the Assembly mandated the very first military UN peacekeeping operation to help end the Suez crisis, marking one of its most significant contributions to crisis management during the Cold War.
Expansion and the Rise of the Global South
The 1960s brought a wave of newly independent states joining the United Nations, expanding membership beyond what the founders had originally envisioned—a maximum size they believed might reach 80 or 90 countries. This expansion transformed the Assembly into a venue where newly freed countries could make their voices heard, shifting priorities toward colonial and racial justice issues.
Throughout the 1960s, the Assembly passed a series of resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa, alongside other late colonial crises such as the persistence of the Portuguese Empire in Africa. By the 1970s, the General Assembly suspended apartheid South Africa’s membership altogether, signaling the emergence of what is now called the Global South as a formidable force within the institution.
