UN General Assembly
1949

124. At the same time, it was essential for the United Nations to recognize its limitations. Without in the least minimizing the great achievements of the United Nations, it had to be admitted that it could not be omniscient, and that, wide as might be the sphere of its endeavours, comprising as it did the many fields of human effort, including the effort for the preservation of peace, there were yet matters on which it could not pronounce. The United Nations was not a world government. It could not, by its constitution, by the circumstances of its origin and by the very nature of its proper function, be a world government. Once that fact was recognized, the true significance of international action taken independently of the United Nations became clear and understandable. The North Atlantic Treaty, the Council of Europe, even action such as the discussions between Mr.