The "Third Force" and the United Nations

Abstract

The "Third Force," in the United Nations and outside it, is not a bloc in the literary sense of the word, but rather a "group" or "caucus" which convenes when the occasion arises to co-operate in settling international disputes that relate to the Cold War—and thus contributes to world peace and tranquility. From a neutralist or nonaligned point of view, international affairs after the Second World War developed in stages: the first, the immediate postwar stage, the second cli maxed by the Suez invasion, and the third climaxed by the Cuban crisis. At the United Nations, the "Third Force" exer cises influence in international affairs far greater than the eco nomic or military strength of its adherents warrant. The So viet Union identified itself with the aspirations of the non aligned and neutralist states rather than the other way around. Neutralist countries share in common the endeavor to work for lessening international tension, to support the right of depend ent peoples for self-determination, to oppose colonialism in all of its manifestations, and to struggle for disarmament and the prevention of atomic weapons for the sake of humanity at large. The neutralist states influence the decisions and tendencies of the United Nations, and the latter, in turn, influence the des tinies of those states which find in the world organization not only protection from the dangers of global war, or local and limited ones, but also a confidence and dignity unequaled in modern history.