54 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
The UN system was established on the ashes of fascism in order to save the succeeding generations from the scourge of war, to maintain peace and security and to strive for international economic cooperation, These were the guiding principles in every single activity of the UN system under the Charter. Only 50 sovereign states participated in the creation of the UN and most of them were West European states. The idea of the UN mainly emanated from Roosevelt-In 1945 most parts of Asia, Africa and the Caribbean were under colonial subjugation by one or the other of the West European powers, which prevented these peoples from taking part in the formulation and drafting of the UN Charter. The only participant with a difference was the Soviet Union whose prestige had risen to an unprecedented level due to its decisive role in defeating fascism and which had come to be recognised as a strong factor in international relations; the presence of the Soviet Union was a major factor which helped to add the democratic and progressive principles in the UN Charter.
The Second World War had reduced England and France and other European powers into a rubble which paved the way for the emer» gfence of the US as the strongest nation in the world in terms of economic and military power. Many factors such as the spread of socialism to Eastern Europe and the emergence of a world socialist camp, the decline of capitalism, the emergence of national liberation movements, led to the US playing the leading role in defending the dwindling imperialist system. Such a role became part of the US foreign policy. The UN, being a place where the foreign policy of every country collided with others'^ could not escape the American attempt to use UN for its purposes. Soon, the UN became a place for manipulations by Western powers, particularly the US which wished the UN to subserve it foreign policy objectives.
During the first one and a half decades one could see this on several occasions. The US succeeded in managing the majority of the members by various methods. The glaring examples of such move& were the Korean problem and the question of China's admission to the UN. John W Holmes describes the US method inside the General Assembly in the following words: "On occasions it would exploit its leadership, as when it bullied its associates to support the ill-timed GA resolution declaring China as aggressor in January 1950. US delegation had to work hard for a majority."2
These manipulations continued even till the 1960's. The Conga crisis once again illustrated how the West managed to intervene in Congo under the cover of UN. There were innumerable political and other situations in which the US managed to have its way. Holmes, in describing the US position in the world and its attitude towards the United Nations, says: "It was not surprising that Americans would assume a certain right to manage the UN, not only becuase...they