Complementary to the effort to reduce great-power domination of the security arrangements were the efforts made at San Francisco by the smaller powers to enhance the role of the Assembly. Not surprisingly, the assembled multitudes at San Francisco, which would constitute the bulk of the future Assembly, were anxious to see that body's powers strengthened, especially in the security field. In that area the Assembly had been given, under the Dumbarton Oaks plans, virtually no powers at all. It could consider general principles. of co-operation in maintaining the peace, but any questions on which action was necessary were to be referred to the Security Council. 'The General Assembly should not on its own initiative make any arrangements on any matter relating to the maintenance of international peace and security which is being dealt with by the Security Council.' It was here above all that the delegates at San Francisco sought changes. While in general they accepted and approved the proposals for a strong Security Council, they sought to ensure that the Assembly would at least have some concurrent powers in this field. The most sweeping proposal was that made by New Zealand, that the Assembly's consent would be required to any proposal by the Security Council to undertake enforcement action. This would have had the major disadvantage that it would have made decisions on such matters far slower and more uncertain: one of the main advantages of using the Council was that it was a relatively small body which could quickly reach decisions in times of emergency. The proposal was thus quickly rejected by the great powers. They pointed to the need for speedy action and to the ineffectiveness of the League Assembly in this field. But the small powers remained insistent that the Assembly should have a wider authority to discuss matters of peace and security. New Zealand demanded that the Assembly should be able to consider 'any matter within the sphere of international relations'. Eventually, and somewhat unwillingly, the Five relented.
Soviet Sense of Union: USSR's Role in UN Charter's Evolution
