ABSTRACT
When delegates in the General Assembly adopt resolutions and decisions they are asking others to conduct themselves in particular ways. Most often these addressees are member states or elements of the UN system, but sometimes they are other intergovernmental organizations, international, national, or local NGOs, business firms or individuals. Since the assembly has no administrative machinery and lacks the resources to create material incentives or disincentives, its resolutions and decisions affect world politics only if enough of the addressees decide for their own reasons to act as the assembly suggests. It can be hard to trace the effect of assembly resolutions on NGOs, firms, and individuals because their relation is so distant. Much closer are the connections between the assembly and UN member states or other UN bodies. Examining how assembly resolutions affect their choices and conduct permits elucidating the major part of the General Assembly’s political significance.
