Interpretations of patterns and trends in postwar international relations have frequently noted the outmoded position of the nation-state, the shrinking nature of the world, the extension of a single international relations system to global limits, and the rising importance of superpowers and regional organizations. It was then often concluded that the coming unit of international politics was likely to be not the territorial state, as in the past, but new regional groupings of states, where the component members would collectively acquire greater power by individually giving up some of their sovereignty to a bloc or group.

Functional theory in international organization, as James Patrick Sewell has observed, asserts that “the most desirable route to international community-building proceeds gradually from initial transnational cooperation in the solution of common problems.” In restating the theory in a series of operational propositions Sewell formulates three “conditions” of functional “international activities”: 1) They are “specific in their focus,” i.e., organized to attack some concrete problem or set of problems; 2) they are “non-controversial,” i.e., concerned with problems which can in some way be set apart as nonpolitical; and 3) they are organized “separately from each other and from international political organs.”

Whether it is called an assembly, a conference, or something else, there is in most if not all international organizations an organ, for which the United Nations General Assembly is the prototype, in which the entire membership is represented. The importance of these bodies is generally acknowledged. Constitutionally, they usually have final authority in such matters as the appointment of the executive officer, the election of smaller organs, the adoption of the budget, and the determination of overall policy. Few studies of an international organization or of the interaction between a state or a group of states and an international organization can neglect the assembly of the organization under scrutiny.

The fourteenth General Conference, held in Paris in November 1966, marked the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The thirteenth General Conference (Paris, 1964), anticipating this occasion, was fully aware of the need for self-evaluation, self-criticism, and renewed self-definition. It passed a special resolution concerning the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary which authorized the Director-General to take appropriate measures to ensure wide publicity of the constitutional principles and actual achievements of UNESCO; to stimulate discussion at different levels of the relevance and effectiveness of the previous and present work of the Organization; and to give thought to the future orientation of the program of UNESCO. Six months prior to the fourteenth General Conference the Director-General convened in Bellagio, Italy, a round table of “wise men” from different geographical regions of the world. Here free and full discussion focused on UNESCO, its limitations, and potential in the perspective of the total setting in which it has to operate. The deliberations of these men, it was hoped, would be of use to the grand ensemble of national delegates at the forthcoming anniversary session.

The General Assembly held its 21st session, comprising the 1409th–1501st plenary meetings, at UN Headquarters from September 20 to December 20, 1966, during which time it took action on 98 agenda items and adopted 115 resolutions. Part of the Assembly's proceedings were summarized in the Spring 1967 issue of International Organization and the remainder follows below.