The signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on April 4, 1949, gave rise to a number of books and articles on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) the volume of which will probably continue for some time. The treaty and the organization that it created represent the clearest challenge to Soviet expansionism since the end of World War II. Through this action twelve nations of North America and western Europe resolved to consider an armed attack against one member an attack against them all, and to create sufficient stiength within the alliance to deter potential aggressors. But NATO's continuing interest to commentators stems from reasons other than its value as a weapon against the spread of communism. To some writers NATO appears to be a stimulant that would revive a moribund United Nations, to others it is the beginning of a new kind of alliance unprecedented in history, to still others, it is a symbol of America's rejection of isolationism. So vague are some of the treaty's articles and so rapid has been the evolution of the organization that almost any observer could derive whatever meaning he wishes out of NATO's development.

“The great purpose of the British Empire is the gradual spread of freedom among all His Majesty's subjects in whatever part of the world they live. That spread of freedom is a slow evolutionary process. In some countries it is more rapid than others.… It may take generations or even centuries for the peoples in some parts of the Colonial Empire to achieve self-government. But it is a major part of our policy, even among the most backward peoples of Africa, to teach them and to encourage them always to be able to stand a little more on their own two feet.”

The idea of weighted voting is not new. In 1849 Sir George Cornewall Lewis stated that “history affords instances in which opinions have been weighed instead of counted”, and the subsequent unfolding of a system which finds notable contemporary expression in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund has seen various manifestations. While it would be extravagant to assert that weighted voting is a crucial issue of the present day, or even a hotly-contested one, its potentialities as a means toward more effective international procedure merit discussion.

Korea: Geneva Conference, April–June, 1954: At the Berlin meeting of the foreign ministers of the United States, France, United Kingdom and Soviet Union in January–February 1954, it was decided to hold a conference to seek a peaceful settlement of the Korean question and to restore peace in Indochina. The states participating in the discussions of a settlement for Korea were to be the United States, France, United Kingdom, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Republic of Korea, People's Democratic Republic of Korea, thirteen other countries which had participated in the Korean hostilities under United Nations command, and the Chinese People's Republic. At the insistence of Mr. Dulles (United States), a provision was added to the effect that the extension to any state of an invitation to the conference would not imply diplomatic recognition of that state in any case where it had not already been accorded.

The question of the threat to Thailand was discussed by the Security Council at its 673d and 674th meetings. After again explaining the reasons for his government's belief that the condition of tension in the general region in which Thailand was located would, if continued, endanger the maintenance of international peace and security, the Thai representative, Pote Sarasin, again requested that the Peace Observation Commission establish a sub-commission of from three to five members to dispatch observers to Thailand and to visit Thailand itself if it were deemed necessary. The Thai draft differed from earlier Thai proposals, however, in that the original mandate of the sub-commission applie only to the territory of Thailand; if the sub-commission felt that it could not adequately accomplish its mission without observation or visit in states contiguous to Thailand, the Peace Observation Commission or the Security Council could issue the necessary instructions. Representatives of New Zealand, Turkey, Brazil, China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Denmark, Colombia and France spoke in support of the Thai draft. They denied, as had been alleged by the Soviet representative (Tsarapkin) at an earlier meeting, that Council consideration or action on this question would be detrimental to the success of the negotiations between the Foreign Ministers of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Chinese People's Republic, Soviet Union and other states in Geneva. While agreeing that it would be impropitious for the Council to consider directly the situation in Indochina as long as it was being discussed in Geneva, they argued that the question raised by Thailand was quite separate and that the Council had a duty to comply with the Thai request.

The third report of the Disarmament Commission, adopted at a brief meeting on August 20, 1953, noted that the Commission had not met since theadoption at the seventh session of the General Assembly of a resolution asking that the Commission report to the Assembly and to the Security Council not later than September 1, 1953. The report added that the Commission hoped “that recent international events will create a more propitious atmosphere for the reconsideration of the disarmament question” and suggested that a report be submitted to the ninth session of the Assembly.

The first part of the 18th session of the Economic and Social Council was held in Geneva from June 29 through August 6, 1954; Mr. Juan Cooke (Argentina) continued as President of the Council. Although the Council set no date for the reconvening of the session, certain decisions approved during this meeting indicated that it would reconvene before December 1, 1954.

The fourteenth session of the Trusteeship Council was held at United Nations headquarters from June 2 to July 16, 1954. At the opening meeting Miguel R. Urquía (El Salvador) was elected president and Léon Pignon (France) vicepresident. The Council accepted an Indian proposal to include a new item in the agenda of the fourteenth session: “General Assembly resolution 751 (VIII): revision of the Questionnaire relating to Trust Territories: interim report of the Sub-Committee on the Questionnaire”, and subsequently adopted an agenda of 18 items. The greater part of the session was devoted to the examination of annual reports on the administration of the trust territories of Somaliland, the Pacific Islands, Western Samoa, New Guinea, and Nauru; a number of questions referred to it by the General Assembly were also dealt with by the Council, which in its closing meeting decided to defer until the Council's fifteenth session a decision on a French proposal that at least one of the Council's annual sessions should be held at Geneva.

Annual Report of the Secretary-General: In the introduction to the eighth annual report ofthe Secretary-General on the work of the United Nations, which covered the period of July 1, 1953, to June 30, 1954, Dag Hammarskjold reviewed the role of the United Nations in the maintenance of peace and security in the light of the recent cessation of fighting in Korea and in Indochina. He stated that while every effort to further the purposes of the United Nations, even if outside the framework of the organization, should be welcomed, although such developments might weaken the prestige and effectiveness of the United Nations. More specifically, he noted that while the use of regional arrangements, when appropriate, was encouraged in the Charter, “where resort to such arrangements is chosen in the first instance, that choice should not be permitted to cast any doubt on the ultimate responsibility of the United Nations”. Mr. Hammarskjold expressed belief in the need for new approaches to peace inthe light of the failure of the subcommittee set up by the Disarmament Commission to reach any agreement at London. He took special note of the absence from the United Nations of “almost half the countries of Europe” as well as statesin other areas. The Secretary-General felt that the situation in the middle easthad deteriorated during the period under review; the United Nations had aspecial responsibility there, and should search for ways to eliminate points of friction not involving questions of principle, until such time as it would be possible to achieve a genuine peace settlement.

Treatment in Hungary of Aircraft and Crew of United States of America: On March 3, 1954, the United States filed with the Registry of the International Court of Justice Applications dated February 16, 1954, instituting proceedings against the governments of Hungary and the Soviet Union in the matter of the treatment in Hungary of aircraft and crew of the United States. In two orders of July 12, 1954, the Court removed the cases from its list, since neither Hungary nor the Soviet Union had accepted the jurisdiction of the Court in the matter.

In the foreword to the annual report on the state of food and agriculture, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (Cardon) noted that 1953 had marked a turning point in the postwar food and agriculture situation. The growth of world production had caught up with the world growth of population, and during 1953/54 production had oontinued to expand. No essential change in this line of development was predicted for the crop year 1954/55. Two major problems, Dr. Cardon stated, confronted FAO: 1) how to reduce existing agricultural surpluses without imbalancing world trade in agricultural commodities, and 2) how to ensure continued agricultural expansion in selected products and countries so as to raise the level of world nutrition as a whole.

The ninth annual report of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development which was transmitted to the Board of Governors on September 24, 1954, covered the activities of the Bank from July 1, 1953, through June 30, 1954. During this period 24 loans had been made in 16 countries, a total of $324 million the highest for a year period in the Bank's history. In all, the Bank had made 104 loans and $1,914 million of the Bank's funds were committed in 34 countries. Total effective loans outstanding and held by the Bank on June 30 amounted to $1,663 million. The greater part of the year's lending, the Bank reported, had been for improvement in basic services; $119 million had been lent for expanding and improving transport facilities and $107 million for expanding electric facilities. Disbursements during the year had been the equivalent of $302 million on new and existing loans, bringing total Bank disbursements to $1,406 million. Disbursements which borrowers spent in Europe had increased during the year from the equivalent of $68 million in 1952–1953 to $115 million. The report noted the growing importance of operations in currencies other than the United States dollar, as indicated by the increase in the proportion of disbursements repayable in other currencies to 27 percent. This increase, it was reported, reflected the larger sums made available to the Bank from capital subscriptions paid in by members in non-dollar currencies and from borrowing outside the United States. Net income of $20 million was added to the supplemental reserve, increasing it to $97 million; the Special Reserve, to which the one percent commission on outstanding balances of all Bank loans was credited, was increased by $12 million, making a total of $49 million.

The 22d session of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization was held from May 18 to June 23, 1954. During the session, the Council considered a report from the Air Navigation Commission which concluded that a comprehensive set of specifications for the type certification and operation of aircraft was not a practicable objective at that time, and that the primary objective of international airworthiness standards should instead be a definition, for application by competent national authorities, of a minimum international basis for recognition by states of certificates of airworthiness for flights of foreign aircraft into and over their territories. Such a code should be in less detailed form than existing international airworthiness and corresponding aircraft operations standards. The Council authorized the Air Navigation Commission to convene a panel of experts to prepare an initial draft, and requested the Commission to report back when this had been done.

The 125th session of the Governing Body of the International Labor Organization was held in Geneva on May 28 and 29, 1954, with Mr. A. M. Malik (Pakistan) presiding. Preliminary consideration was given to the agenda for the 39th session of the ILO Conference (1956), which, it was decided, would be comprised of the Director-Generals report, financial and budgetary questions, and information on the application of Conventions and Recommendations, The Director-General was requested to submit to the November session of the Governing Body reports dealing with the national law and practices of member states in the fields of (1) weekly rest in commerce and offices, (2) living and working conditions of indigenous populations in independent countries, and (3) forced labor. He was also requested to provide a general note on the conditions of plantation workers and on discrimination in the field of employment and occupation.

The Annual Report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1954, was transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on July 1, 1954. During the period under review, the report noted, important steps toward currency convertibility had been taken in several countries, notably Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom; restrictions on dollar imports had been lightened, exports of domestic capital had been freer, and more reliance had been placed on the regulative powers of the price mechanism. The easing of restrictions had gone hand in hand with an improvement in the world balance of payments equilibrium, and a reversal, during 1953, of the downward trend in the volume of world trade which had appeared early in 1952. Sound fiscal and monetary policies had improved the competitive position of Europe which had experienced more stable prices and less inflationary pressure; the report cautioned that the coincidence, up to mid-1953, of a high level of business activity in the United States with slack demand conditions in western Europe had been a purely fortuitous aid in improving the latter's balance of payments position. Progress toward convertibility had been made possible by a general improvement in economic conditions; however, problems would be involved in taking further steps toward convertibility. Among these were: 1) the problem of controlling international movements of capital, and 2) the importance of having countries whose balance of payments position was weak, as well as those with a stronger position, move concurrently towards convertibility.

The ninth session of the International Telecommunication Union Administrative Council was held in Geneva from May 1 to 20, 1954, under the chairmanship of Charles J. Acton (Canada). It was reported that the Council had kept the ITU budget within the limits set at the Buenos Aires Conference, although it had not been easy to strike a balance between the desire of the staff to improve its lot and the desire of ITU members to cut their financial burden as far as possible. In the interests of economy, the Council decided to postpone consideration of the proposed convening of the Telegraph and Telephone Conference until the Council's tenth session; it would, therefore, be impossible for the Conference to meet before 1956. The Council also reported that it was impossible to foresee when the Radio Conference could be convened; the question was to be reviewed by the Council in 1955. The question of postponing the next Plenipotentiary Conference of ITU, which would normally meet in 1957, for one or two years was discussed during the Council's ninth session; further discussion was scheduled for the tenth session.

International Trade, 1953: A report on international trade developments during 1953 was issued by GATT in June 1954. During the year 1953, a significant change had occurred in the prevailing post-1950 pattern of trade; the unfavorable position of the western European industrial areas with the accompanying dollar deficits had been largely redressed, with a gradual reversion to the pre-Korean price structure. Important shifts in the flow of goods between the industrial areas had contributed to a more balanced trade pattern than at any other time in the post-war period. The level of trade among the three non-industrial areas had remained remarkably constant, but there had been a significant slowing down of the exchange of goods between the areas producing primary products and the industrial areas of the world; while the volume of exports of the primary producers had increased, the prices of their commodities had fallen to an extent that made export proceeds decline heavily. However, there had been an intensification of exchanges between each industrial area and the particular primary producing region with which it was most closely associated.

Rumania applied for membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in June 1954. On August 12, the UNESCO agreement exempting educational films from customs duties entered into force; the agreement was in effect in eleven countries. The UNESCO convention exempting books, newspapers, works of art, scientific equipment, and other educational material from import duties was being applied in nineteen countries.

The Executive Board of the World Health Organization held its 14th session i n Geneva on May 27 and 28, 1954. Dr. H. Hyde (United States) was elected Chairman of the Board. Many of the decisions taken by the Executive Board implemented recommendations approved at the seventh World Health Assembly..

In his foreword to the Annual Report of the World Meteorological Organization for 1953, the Acting Secretary-General (Swoboda) stated that the publication combined the anual report of the Organization to the United Nations with the annual report to its members, and therefore contained highly technical as well as general information. Part I of the report constituted a general review of WMO's activities; it noted that, as compared with previous years, there had been an increase in technical program activity; six of the eight Technical Com-missions and three of the six Regional Associations had met during the year and had adopted resolutions and recommendations for making international cooperation closer in such fields as exchanges of weather data and standardization of meteorological methodology and the application of meteorology to agriculture.