ifda dossier 74 - Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation

economic negotiation outside the UN system, for example the Con-
ference on International Economic Cooperation (CIEC) of 1975-1977,
the G77 was also represented.12 In other words, in practically every
international economic forum, within and without the already very
extensive UN system, the presence of the G77 can be felt. And, in these
two Third World organizations, the G77 and the NAM, together with
their component bodies whose numbers have gone beyond the double
digit figures, the Third World can be said to be represented at virtually
every existing international organization, global, regional and sub-
regional.
To conclude, as stated at the outset, the objective of this paper is to
investigate the existing Third World organizations which seek to
articulate their views and address their problems. From this cursory
examination, what gaps can be identified? What issue areas are not
dealt with by the NAM and the G77? It would appear that the answer
is in the negative, leaving us with the question as to the kind of role
the South Commission intends to fulfil. A preliminary look at the
objectives of the South Commission seems to point to a focus on self-
help nieasures.15 This happens to be the preoccupation of both the
NAM and the G77 since the mid 1970s, hence the rationale for future
research on the topic, "The South Commission: New horizons or the
same old song'?' While not intending to question the credentials of the
30 members of the South Commission, who are serving in their personal
capacities and not as official government representatives, the Commis-
sion could just as well have been constituted as an Expert Group of the
NAM or as a Working Group of the G77. Perhaps it is this very
feature, its composition of 'intellectual leaders', which promises to
distinguish this group from earlier Third World bodies. This, then,
should he the subject of further inquiry.
Notes
1. Src Inis I.. CI;iude, Swords into Ploiighsfiares, 3rd cd,, revised (New York: rand on^
House, 1904) pp 447-448. Appendix IV on Membership in the United Nations. It lists the
original members as of 1945 and those admitted each subsequent year, i.e. in 1956. 1947.
up until 1963. For a summary of the years after 1964 till 1977, see T.A. Coulombis and
J.J. Woll'e, Introduction to International Relations: Power atid Justice (New Jersey: I'rentice-
I [;ill, 1078) pp.273-274.