The Future Relationship Between Small States and the United Nations
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The Future Relationship Between Small States and the United Nations Report of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Structures, Committee on United Nations Affairs, ABA SECTION ON INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW * Introduction i The Secretary-General of the United Nations recently suggested that the competent organs of the Organization undertake a thorough and comprehensive study of the criteria for membership in the U.N. with a view to laying down limitations on full membership while also defining other forms of association which would benefit both the Or- ganization and those states "which have been referred to as 'micro-states', entities which are especially small in area, population, and human and economic resources, and which are now emerging as independent states." 1 Ambassador Arthur J. Goldberg, United States Representative to the United Nations, in a letter to the President of the Security Council dated December 13, 1967, joined in the suggestion made by the Secre- tary-General and expressed the belief that examination of the consider- ations presented by the Secretary-General is most likely to be fruitful if it is made in terms of general principles and procedures.' Although no formal action has been taken by the United Nations, the matter is understood to be under consideration. The purpose of this report is to review the principal considerations involved in the suggestion made by the Secretary-General. ii The structure of the world community continues to be characterized chiefly by the existence of territorially organized units, states, equal in * This is an abridged version of the report submitted to the Council of the Section on August 3, 1968. 1 Introduction to the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization, 16 June 1966-15 June 1967, 22 U.N. G.A.O.R., Supp. No. IA, paras 163-167 (U.N. Doc. A/6701/Add.1) (1967). 2 Department of State Press Release USUN-236 (December 13, 1967), at p. 1. R International Lawyer, Vol. 3, No. 1 The Future RelationshipBetween Small States and the U.N. 59 sovereign attributes but markedly unequal in effective power, prestige and influence upon internationally significant events. It is appropriate to recall the words of J. B. Scott who, writing in 1907 about the Hague Peace Conferences, stated: While all states are legally equal, still in this practical world of ours we must not, or at least we cannot, ignore the historic fact that nations exercise an influence upon the world's affairs com- mensurate with their traditions, their industry, their commerce, and their present ability to safeguard their interests. It follows from this that though equal in theory, their influence is often unequal in practice.8 The difference between legal equality and practical inequality is reflected in the United Nations which, although it is "based on the principle of sovereign equality of all its Members,"' is a deliberately imperfect democratic model. It is also reflected, more subtly, in the omission of any mention of universality of membership in the Charter. The drafters at San Francisco recognized that universality was an ideal towards which it was proper to aim.' However, in drafting the Charter they followed the League of Nations model 6 and deliberately included a set of specific, if ambiguous, criteria for membership.' The initial membership of the Organization consisted of only fifty-one countries. 8 From 1946 to 1959 this number was increased by thirty-two, all but a few of which were already well established states and active participants in world affairs. However, the trend has since changed. All seventeen states admitted in 1960 had just recently at- tained independence, and the same is true of twenty-three of the twenty- four admitted since 1960. The membership now numbers 124, nearly two and one-half times the number of original members, and the practice of admitting states 3 The Hague Peace Conference of 1899 and 1907 (1907), at 176, cited in Anand, Sovereign equality of states in the U.N. 7 INDIAN J. INT'L L. 185, 198 (1967). 4 U.N. Charter, Article 2, para. 1. 5 Doc. 1178, 1/2/76(2), 7 U.N. C.I.O. Docs. 326 (1945). 6 See Article 1 of the Covenant of the League. 7The attitudes toward universality at San Francisco are discussed in Green, Membership in the United Nations, 2 CURRENT LEGAL PROBS. 258 (1949), at 262 ff.; and Cohen, The Concent of Statehood in United Nations Practice, 109 U. PA. L. REV. 1127 (1961), at 1170ff. g These were the states which had participated in the United Nations Confer- ence on International Organization, held in San Francisco from April 25 to June 26, 1945, or which had previously signed the Declaration by United Nations of January 1, 1942, and which had signed and ratified the U.N. Charter. International Lawyer, Vol. 3, No. I 60 INTERNATIONAL LAWYER soon after they become independent and without strict scrutiny of their eligibility for membership in accordance with the Charter con- tinues. Moreover, the process of decolonization has proceeded to the point where, with a few notable exceptions, the remaining candidates for self-government, independence and, ultimately, U.N. membership are extremely small in size, population and/or financial resources. The number of these "micro-states" or "mini-states" or "Lilliputian states," as they have variously been called, is estimated to be over sixty, if one limits the counting to units with a population of under 300,000, as has been suggested.' The magnitude of the potential problem becomes clearer, however, when one contemplates the vast number of island territories and other small entities which could conceivably seek inde- pendence, statehood and U.N. membership in the future. Adding to the problem and making its resolution somewhat more difficult is the sensitivity of existing states to challenges to their territorial integrity such as are posed by secessionist, irredentist, and "liberation" movements of one kind or another. Membership in the U.N. may be sought as a stamp of legitimacy by any group claiming to represent an independent "state". This could throw into question the sacrosanctity of territorial boundaries and lead to fragmentation of existing states. Hence, the likelihood of a cautious attitude by many U.N. members, in- cluding the United States. On the other hand, it is only fair to say that the fear of proliferation may be exaggerated. Membership in the U.N. is not logically the most pressing need and may not even be a priority objective for really small territories. Conceivably, the mini-state problem described by the Secre- tary-General could work itself out by the simple expedient of encouraging a lack of interest in membership by small states and potential states. Accordingly, it seems appropriate to examine, first, why small states are attracted to U.N. membership and, second, whether all or most of these attractions could be provided in some other way acceptable to all concerned. Attractions of U.N. Membership Statehood characteristically is accompanied by an intensified awareness of national interests and a desire to influence events which have a bearing on those interests. The U.N., as the largest, the most 9 See Blair, The Ministate Dilemma, Occasional Paper No. 6, Carnegie En- dowment for International Peace (1967), at 3. Mrs. Blair's paper has been a source of considerable value to the Subcommittee in the preparation of this Report. International Lawyer, Vol. 3, No. I The FutureRelationship Between Small States and the U.N. 61 nearly universal, and the broadest based international institution is perhaps the obvious point of reference for obtaining such influence. As a diplomatic center, it offers unparalleled opportunities for contact with representatives of other countries and of international organizations. As a public forum, it affords the means for instant communication of one's message to a wide audience. As the leading international political institution, its recognition of a state confirms that state's legitimacy and standing in the world community. All these factors have contributed to the rush to membership by newly independent states in the fifties and sixties. Whether they will have the same impact on mini-states in the seventies and beyond can only be guessed. Preliminary indications are that to the mini-states of the future the chief attractions of the U.N. may be its acceptability as a source of technical and economic assistance and as a countervailing force for small states whose security is threatened by former metropoles, neighboring states or other external antagonists. Full membership is not without its cost. Small member states may find onerous the drain on their funds (minimum annual dues of members alone are currently around $50,000) and available trained manpower. There are also drawbacks to having to meet the demands of membership and record voting positions on an imposing number and variety of issues, especially for a small delegation and its home office which may not be equipped to do so effectively. One can expect these difficulties to increase and their burden upon future mini-states to be even heavier than it has been upon small member states to date. For the U.N., weighing against the desirability of making the Organization more nearly universal in membership is the prospect of dis- proportionately increased demands upon the Organization's already strained physical and economic resources. Even now, it may be pro- jected that U.N. Headquarters in New York, opened in 1950, will have to be substantially enlarged to accommodate the increasing size and workload of the Organization. Moreover, a stream of membership applications from mini-states could expose the status of full membership to the risk of debasement, a hazard already discernible to some.