UN and Reagan. Ronald Reagan was the ultimate realist and optimistic world leader, and as such was panned by the UN because he saw the organisation for what it was! I believe that one of the reasons that Reagan approved the liberation of Grenada was to stop the Cuban troop and cargo planes that departed from the Grenada airport enroute to Angola.

UN, Soviet aggression, Ronald Reagan President Reagan saying, "We should not confuse the signing of agreements with the solving of problems."

Reagan made those remarks in New York before the United Nations General Assembly Special Session Devoted to Disarmament. June 17, 1982. Reagan also declared, "In the nuclear era, the major powers bear a special responsibility to ease these sources of conflict and to refrain from aggression. And that's why we're so deeply concerned by Soviet conduct. Since World War II, the record of tyranny has included Soviet violation of the Yalta agreements leading to domination of Eastern Europe, symbolized by the Berlin Wall - a grim, gray monument to repression that I visited just a week ago. It includes the takeovers of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Afghanistan; and the ruthless repression of the proud people of Poland. Soviet-sponsored guerrillas and terrorists are at work in Central and South America, in Africa, the Middle East, in the Caribbean, and in Europe, violating human rights and unnerving the world with violence. Communist atrocities in Southeast Asia, Afghanistan, and elsewhere continue to shock the free world as refugees escape to tell of their horror. The decade of so-called detente witnessed the most massive Soviet buildup of military power in history. They increased their defense spending by 40 percent while American defense actually declined in the same real terms. Soviet aggression and support for violence around the world have eroded the confidence needed for arms negotiations. While we exercised unilateral restraint, they forged ahead and today possess nuclear and conventional forces far in excess of an adequate deterrent capability." What did the U.N. do to stop Soviet aggression or the Soviet military build-up? The Cold War ended because of the efforts of men like Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II. In fact, the U.N. was on the side of the Soviet Union. The U.N. General Assembly condemned the U.S. liberation of Grenada and the U.N.'s so-called International Court of Justice labeled U.S. support for the freedom fighters in Nicaragua a violation of international law. Consider another Soviet-backed initiative, the New International Economic Order (NIEO), which was launched in 1974 and designed to transfer money and resources from the U.S. to the Third World. A U.N. Treaty, the Convention on the Law of the Sea, was described by Reagan's Ambassador to the U.N., Jeane Kirkpatrick, as the cornerstone of the NIEO. That's why Reagan rejected it. Curiously, the treaty is now before the Senate and is backed by the Bush administration.

Credits: Reagan made those remarks in New York before the United Nations General Assembly Special Session Devoted to Disarmament on June 17, 1982.