UN General Assembly
1972

41. The unpleasant fact that the small nations must face up to is that the great Powers do not need the United Nations for their diplomacy or the influencing of world affairs as much as small nations do. The big Powers have over the years established an international network of their own which, if the small nations are not careful, will increasingly shape the course of world events independently of the small nations. It is we, the small nations, rather than the great Powers, who stand to lose in the long run by the diminishing role assigned to the United Nations in the making of world history. The United Nations activities could, given present trends, be no more than foot-notes to the chapters the great Powers will write.