To achieve the declared purposes of the United Nations (UN), the UN Charter of 1945 provided for the establishment of a number of organs, including the General Assembly and Security Council. The Assembly is empowered to discuss any question or matters within the scope of the Charter. For this reason it can be described as the world's most important forum for political discussion. Also, owing to its various functions under the Charter, it holds a prominent position among the organs of the UN. Committees and other bodies established by the Assembly to study and report on specific issues carry out much of its work.

The Assembly is the only principal organ of the UN in which all member states are represented; it was conceived to closely resemble, in both function and structure, a representative legislative assembly. President Franklin D. Roosevelt often referred to the Security Council as the body with the power, while the Assembly...