The Creation of the United Nations Organization as a Factor in Soviet Foreign Policy, 1943-46

The thesis explores in depth the negotiations to create the United Nations Organization through which Stalin sought to enhance the USSR's power and prestige via traditional, military-oriented means. Although the Kremlin was relatively successful at maximizing Soviet power within the structure of the UNO, its inflexibility on issues such as Poland, Latin American membership, and other issues antagonized its wartime allies, the USA and Britain. This developing fracture seriously undermined cooperation among the victorious great powers both within the new organization and more broadly. As a result, the process of founding the UNO proved to be both a significant cause and reflection of the degeneration of the wartime Grand Alliance into the Cold War.