General Assembly declares the 1980s a second disarmament decade

Resolution 478 rejected Israel’s Basic Law on Jerusalem and called on states to withdraw diplomatic missions from the city. The vote challenged annexation and the attempt to make control over occupied...

The General Assembly admitted Zimbabwe as the UN’s 153rd member, five months after independence. Admission recognized formal sovereign equality, while the movement from colonial rule to material...

The invasion began a devastating war that lasted eight years. Iran and Iraq both invoked sovereignty and security, while the conflict exposed how regional rivalries and external arms relationships...

Resolution 479 urged both governments to refrain from further force and accept mediation. The brief text treated the parties symmetrically and did not address the causes of the invasion or the unequal...

Resolution 35/19 addressed Western Sahara and called for the exercise of self-determination. The issue illustrates how formal decolonization remained unfinished after many African states had gained...

The strategy set development goals for the decade and acknowledged the need for international cooperation. Its ambitions confronted structural problems identified by developing countries, including...

Resolution 35/118 called for full implementation of the independence declaration for colonial countries and peoples. It maintained pressure on administering powers and kept self-determination...

Resolution 35/206 called for coordinated sanctions and international campaigns against apartheid. NAM members and African liberation movements had long pressed for material action; the resolution also...

Foreign ministers met from 9 to 13 February amid debate over Afghanistan, Palestine, southern Africa and the future of non-alignment. The conference demonstrated that non-alignment was an active...

The Bureau met amid South Africa’s attempt to install an interim administration in Namibia. Members pressed the Security Council to reject the move and reaffirmed support for Namibian...