The United Nations thrives on fear and devastation. You hear about it only when a problem becomes serious. Then the secretary-general moves into action, and so does the Security Council. As for the General Assembly, it has little to offer beyond speeches and statements. As for its president, or its female president, as in the current session, the position is largely ceremonial, rather like an honorary doctorate from a university in Alaska.
In any case, the General Assembly remains the most important and widest-ranging global political spectacle of the year. A number of heads of state attend, some to be seen in the chamber and others to shop around the city. Russia's legendary foreign minister, Andrei Gromyko, would shake the world in the chamber, then emerge calmly to shop at Macy's with Mrs. Gromyko, particularly during the sales.
The Cold War was everywhere. It was present in every issue and on this grand stage. During the General Assembly, all the major foreign ministers would arrive and hold side meetings in the corridors, where things moved at a frantic pace and which would soon empty again. During the sessions, the crowds were a spectacle in themselves, as were the photographs and the photographers.
In the 1970s, the organization, initially known as the "League of Nations," still possessed much of its glamour, importance, and prestige. The United Nations. All nations. It was the institution that emerged after two world wars and promised those who remained alive in this world a world in which Hiroshima, Berlin, and Dresden would never be repeated. No atomic bombs, no more devastating weapons.
Despite the dominance of the great powers and their privileged club, and despite the presence of even greater powers among them, the United Nations was something noble. Humanity had tasted the nuclear age and had had enough. The organization created a powerful peacekeeping force with blue helmets. Expressions that had previously been unfamiliar became commonplace, such as human rights. Those oppressed because of their race or color began to experience the taste of freedom. The final vestiges of serfdom and slavery, among the worst forms of bondage humanity had known, began to disappear.
But the most important change in humanity was the emergence of women as equal partners on the path toward equality. Half of the "Blue Building" had filled with women.
Until next time.
