World Notes United Nations

Since 1981 the Reagan Administration has made it increasingly plain that the U.S. will not underwrite a profligate organization influenced by anti-American forces -- namely the United Nations. This year the Administration's threats to cut the $210 million U.S. assessment by $67 million have been seconded by congressional Gramm-Rudman budget-cutting efforts. Together the cuts could drop U.S. payments low enough to put the U.N. in fiscal jeopardy.

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar has countered with his own pressure: he has intimated that he may not accept a second five-year term this fall unless the U.S. continues its financial support of the U.N. "I don't see any reason why I should preside over the collapse of the organization," he told the New York Times. His pressure tactic may have been ! unnecessary: the White House is now urging Congress to vote the full assessment.