UN General Assembly
1959

92. The situation in other principal organs is somewhat more complicated. The Security Council is still the organ which bears primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Paradoxically enough, however, it is sometimes inactive during periods when the world seems to be plagued with explosive situations which may jeopardize peace. We are bound to wonder whether the principle of unanimity of the permanent members may not to some extent have rendered it sterile, or whether its membership is duly representative of all parts of the world, or indeed, whether many international situations cannot be settled in a forum so dramatically dominated by the great Powers. Or is it that States prefer to resort to other means of solving their problems rather than risk being involved in major political debates?