THE NEW POLITICS OF VOTING ALIGNMENTS IN THE UNITED-NATIONS GENERAL-ASSEMBLY

Voting patterns in the United National General Assembly provide an exc eptionally good set of evidence for observing issues and alignments of states in international politics. We analyze those patterns in three post-cold war sessions of the General Assembly and compare them with t he alignments and issues that characterized sessions during the cold w ar. We find new groups and alignments (with most of Eastern Europe now voting with rather than against West European positions) and a new pr ominence of long-term North-South issues as they now relate to questio ns of redefining ''human security'' in the post-cold war world. The pr edominant General Assembly division is between richer and poorer natio ns. Key correlates of voting with the North are wealth democracy, and proportionately low levels of trade with the United States.