'A living reflection of the world....' (interview with Jean Gazarian) (includes comments on UN activities from Jawaharlal Nehru and John F. Kennedy) (interview).

Paris-born Jean Gazarian was for 26 years (1959-1985) the General Assembly's silent watchdog. Under his dark, alert gaze, fiery debates, Passionate and somnolent speeches, intricate procedural manoeuvering and more than one historical moment unfolded. As the Secretariat's Director of General Assembly Affairs, his task was to keep things moving smoothly, to make sure that the world forum's delicate fabric remained reasonably unperturbed even in the face of diplomatic wrangling, protocol snafus or bomb scares. Now a senior fellow at UNITAR, the UN Institute for Training and Research and a roving organizer of international conferences-he has co-ordinated recent meetings on Cambodia, drugs, and Central American and Indo-Chinese refugees-Mr Gazarian, pictured at left, recalls his Assembly years in a recent interview with the UN Chronicle.

You joined the UN in 1946. How was the Assembly in those early days?

It was almost a club of privileged countries. They were the victorious Powers in World War II and their allies, mostly Latin American States. There was a very solid majority behind the United States and its allies, and a very clear minority for the USSR and its Eastern European allies.

The African continent, which now has the largest number of States at the UN, was then represented by only four countries-Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia and South Africa. All the others were colonies.

Decolonization is the most spectacular achievement of the General Assembly.

No one thought that it would work so well. When the Assembly Hall was built, it was built for a much smaller number of nations, because nobody thought that in this century there would be more than 100 Members. Little by little we had to dig into the seats for the press and the public in order to accommodate the growing membership.

Do you ever feel nostalgic about the past?

No. Some people may regret the past and that famous automatic majority, but I personally feel that it's definitely better to have an Assembly which is representative of the world at large because at any time, if there is any controversy, any need for a dialogue, there is a forum where practically all nations can get together, talk, and try to resolve their conflicts. There is nothing more difficult than trying to resolve an issue with somebody who is far away and does not participate.

Critics often say that the Assembly is little more than a speech-making club. What purpose does the Assembly really serve?

Human contact-that's what the Assembly is all about. President Reagan shaking hands with the President of Nicaragua, the leaders of North Korea and South Korea getting together for the first time, the Prime Minister of India having a long and productive talk with the President of Pakistan, also for the first time. All that happened in 1985, during the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations.

I'm not trying to minimize the importance of the speeches-some are extremely valuable, some are very repetitious-but what is not heard or seen at the Assembly is often more important than what is.

More than 100 Foreign Ministers and many Heads of State or Government come here every year. All have a unique opportunity not only to express their views but also to get together, even if they are enemy States or rivals.

Many diplomatic relations have been restored or established, thanks to the General Assembly, but not because of what happened publicly inside the Assembly Hall.

It is very rare to see a case like that of President Sadat of Egypt, who agreed to go to Israel to meet its leader. When two countries are at odds or in a belligerent situation, it takes a lot of courage for the leader of one country to go and visit the capital of the other country. Many Heads of State would lose their jobs if they did that.

But for both of them to come to the UN is a normal occurrence. And once here, they have the opportunity of getting together, maybe not at the...