ABSTRACT
Equalitarianism has served different functions in the different phases of the United Nations (UN) existence. The first of these more or less discrete phases began with the early realization that there was to be no post-war honeymoon between the Soviet Union and her wartime allies and ended with disenchantment over the UN's role in the Korean War. The member states of the UN have exercised their political equality in two ways. First, in the act of voting on resolutions in the General Assembly and its main committees, and second, in the act of creating limited-member bodies and selecting states to serve on them and on the limited-member Councils established by the Charter. Concurrent majorities may, and probably will, include a number of states that tolerate rather than actively support the proposed course of action. Such actors may even vote against a resolution that embodies the dominant opinion within the UN.
