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| | Lecture 11 - UN Reform from the Standpoint of the United States |
 | | A perplexing question to most non-Americans is how the United Nations, which was essentially a creation of the vision and leadership of the United States as World War II came to an end and in which American influence and direction today are unrivaled, should now be treated with such disdain. |
 | | At the outset, the United States government viewed the United Nations as a most useful instrument in the pursuit of its national interests, which it saw as coinciding with a genuine world community (in the words of the Charter, "a center for harmonizing the actions of nations"). |
 | | To those committed to the UN idea, the string of UN conferences "from Rio to Istanbul" dealing with the environment, human rights, population, social development, women, and cities (Habitat II), is the logical forward movement for the United Nations in fulfillment of the UN Charter's lofty goals in the social and economic field. |
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