Tibet for most people remains a land of mystery. Books continue to be published which deal with its strange cults and religious practices. It is also a land of romance and adventure. But very little has been written on its political history and still less on its legal status. That is why Professor Charles Henry Alexandrowicz-Alexander’s article in the April, 1954, issue of this JOURNAL must be regarded as a welcome contribution.

In recent years, increased attention has been focused on international conflicts of interest with respect to international rivers of the Middle Bast. The creation of new political units in the area after the first World War, their attainment of independence, and the creation of new states in the years following the second World War, fragmented the areas irrigated by most of the Middle East’s rivers.

With the preparations for the 1957–1958 International Geophysical Year much in evidence, the long-standing dispute over the Antarctic shifts into a new phase. The preliminaries are nearly over. All of the nations seriously involved in the area are now in training for the exploratory and political (if not the legal) main events. In this study the lesser known Argentine and Chilean claims in the “American Quadrant” (0° to 90° West Longitude) will be given particular consideration, although the general legal propositions may be applied to the entire region. The purpose will be to set forth the major developments, the applicable law, and to suggest possible solutions, including those looked upon as more “political” than legal.

The question of recognition of the Central People’s Republic of China, and the withdrawal of recognition of the Nationalist regime in Formosa, is from time to time a matter of moment in the internal politics of certain of the Pacific nations. Few of the proponents of recognition would advocate handing Formosa to the mainland government; they would prefer the island to be internationalized, neutralized, or made independent under United Nations auspices and guarantee. In the policy discussions on the question, various views of the legal competence of the Allies or of the United Nations to dispose of Formosa have been advanced. It is the purpose of this paper to examine these views in turn and indicate on which view the question of Formosa’s future can be severed from the question of recognition.

The Antarctic Continent, with its wind- and snow-swept islands, appears at first sight an uninviting prize for international competition. Yet in the past fifty years, and notably after the second World War, claims and counterclaims to sovereignty over these bleak lands have been numerous. In a chronological order Soviet Bussia is considered to be the most recent among the rivals.