The framers of the United Nations Charter agonized over the consequences of allowing great states a political veto, but they hardly worried about a power that can paralyze the U.N. almost as effectively: the financial nyet.
Although many nations are behind in paying their regular annual share of costs (approximate total arrears: $5,000,000), the really critical deficit involves members' deliberate decisions not to pay "special assessments." Because they dislike U.N. operations in the Congo and the Middle East, voted by the veto-proof General Assembly, the Communist bloc has refused to pay its share of the annual $140 million price of...
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