The first General Assembly of the United Nations, comprising
51 nations, convened at Westminster Central Hall in London,
England on this day in 1946.

One week later, the U.N. Security Council met for the first time
and established its rules of procedure.

Then, on January 24, the General Assembly adopted its first
resolution, a measure calling for the peaceful uses of atomic
energy and the elimination of atomic and other weapons of
mass destruction.

CARLATA BRADLEY

FROM LEFT: JOHN ALLEN MUHAMMAD, LEE BOYD MALVO

TIM MAGUIRE

In a dramatic reversal of its long-standing commitment to the Nationalist
Chinese government of Taiwan, and a policy of non-recognition of the
communist People’s Republic of China, America’s U.N. representatives
vote to seat the PRC as a permanent member. Over American objections,
Taiwan was expelled.

The reasons for the apparently drastic change in U.S. policy were not
hard to discern. The United States had come to value closer relations
with the PRC more than its historical commitment to Taiwan. U.S.
interest in having the PRC’s help in resolving the sticky Vietnam
situation; the goal of using U.S. influence with the PRC as diplomatic
leverage against the Soviets; and the desire for lucrative economic
relations with the PRC, were all factors in the U.S. decision.

TIM MAGUIRE