Slate’s Explainer has something interesting that I didn’t know

There’s an esoteric maneuver to get around a threatened veto: invoking the obscure U.N. Resolution 377, also known as the “Uniting for Peace” Resolution. In early 1950, the United States pushed through the resolution as a means of circumventing possible Soviet vetoes. The measure states that, in the event that the Security Council cannot maintain international peace, a matter can be taken up by the General Assembly. This procedure has been used 10 times so far, most notably in 1956 to help resolve the Suez Canal crisis. Britain and France, which were occupying parts of the canal at the time, vetoed Security Council resolutions calling for their withdrawal. The United States called for an emergency “Uniting for Peace” session of the General Assembly, which passed a withdrawal resolution. (A simple majority vote is required.) Britain and France pulled out shortly after.

Of course, Slate also notes that the last “Uniting for Peace” resolution was a call in 1980 for the USSR to withdraw from Afghanistan–and we know how well that worked. On the other hand, if the USSR complied (speculating wildly) then there’s no mujaheddin, fewer or less extreme madrassas in Afghanistan and Pakistan, no Taliban…you see where this is going.

AB