The utility of the United Nations to the United States as an instrument of foreign policy can too easily be underestimated. Over the years since its founding in 1945, the United Nations has been more or less a servant of American interests. The most spectacular examples were the official UN authorization and sponsorship of intervention in the “troubled spots” of the world with an international peacekeeping force. Consider this fact: The United States provides an average quarter of the UN budget.

Many Americans feel the United Nations does not give good value for the investment. But any evaluation of the United Nations must take into account the purpose for which the United States sought to create it: power without diplomacy. In many cases, a victory of the United Nations is a victory of the United States. In recent years, however, with the growing position of China and some other countries in international diplomacy, the United States can no longer control UN decisions as it did before. But the United Nations will continue to function as a useful instrument of American foreign policy.