But there was another strategy that could be tried, one simultaneously quite clever and profoundly cynical: kick the whole matter over to the United Nations. With that institution already gaining a reputation for toothlessness, its inaction could serve as a shield to mask the administration’s own indolence. Better yet, by working through the U.N., the United States could give the appearance of trying to address the Hungarian issue, with the confidence that any resolution taken to the Security Council would be vetoed by the Soviets. In just this way, while the United States did nothing to help
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