ABSTRACT
Ironically, during much of the period that Moscow was busy discovering the United Nations, Washington was abandoning it. As a first step, Washington should recognize that Moscow's desire for a leading role in an enhanced United Nations is not a threat; rather, it represents an opportunity to work together on difficult global problems. Moscow's personnel policies discouraged Soviets from developing any sense of loyalty to the organization. In terms of personnel policy, Moscow has taken significant steps to increase the independence of Soviets employed by the UN. In November 1989, for the first time in 44 years, the superpowers cosponsored a General Assembly resolution aimed at reinforcing the work of the organization; then they held a joint press conference to introduce their text. During the Cold War, functionalists argued the contrary-namely, that in order to foster multilateralism it was better to avoid actions in the security area and concentrate on the UN'.s relatively noncontroversial humanitarian and developmental activities.
