UN General Assembly
1970

118. The Secretary-General's point of departure is the basic constitutional fact that the United Nations is an organization of sovereign States, and that the authority of the United Nations, and the prospects for the further development of the Organization's capacity for action, are dependent on the willingness of Member States to let the Organization act on their behalf. This is today a realistic view, however much at variance it may be with the popular misconception that the United Nations stands above nations and can act independently of Governments.