North Atlantic Treaty Organization

[Jim O]

The General Assembly also elects the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council.

I agree that the US will not leave the organization unless it is for a successor organization as it enjoys the safety of a veto.

An interesting little bit of trivia is that when the organization was founded the USSR felt somehow "outnumbered" and so they were given three votes in the General Assembly. The USSR itself had one as did the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR.

[PatBC]

I did know that trivia by with the break up the Soviet Union that is nolonger relevant.

The non-permanent members of the Security Council really only a little power because of the five veto's. Mainly they can only suggest resolutions since the five veto's will decide if anything get passed by the Security Council.

[Jim O]

They are in the room and can get items on the agenda. The veto can not be used for procedural matters like discussions, only for resolutions. It's worth something. Also, the five permanents cannot get something passed without the consent of at least some of the non-permanents.

Wow...is this ever getting