The Council of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) held its ninth annual meeting in Manila on April 13–15, 1964, under the chairmanship of Salvador P. Lopez, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines. The communiqué issued at the close of the meeting expressed the Ministers' contention that SEATO had had, and continued to have, a most important stabilizing influence in Southeast Asia. Despite the sharpening of the Sino-Soviet dispute, the Council agreed that world domination remained the aim of communism and that vigilance could not therefore be relaxed. In addition to measures to deter overt aggression and active insurgency, the Ministers agreed that emphasis on the development of economic and social conditions should be continued in order to strengthen national resistance to subversion. Reaffirming that the determination of national policy rested with individual governments, the Council declared that material support and encouragement should be given to those nations which, in defending themselves, needed and requested such support.

The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) held its 45th session on March 19–April 13, 1962, and its 46th session on May 17–June 29, 1962. In both of these sessions, the Council devoted much of its time to consideration of documentation for the fourteenth session of the Assembly. Although it decided to drop a study on the advantages brought by air transport, the Council approved the publication of three important air transport documents: a handbook of administrative clauses in bilateral agreements designed to assist states in the drafting of bilateral agreements; a study on air freight developments; and a study on inclusive tour services in international transport. The only new development in the field of technical assistance was the appointment of ICAO as the executing agency for a seventh Special Fund project, the establishment of a flight safety center in Beirut. In the Congo, experts recruited by ICAO continued to provide operational services at all major airports and round-the-clock flight information service at Leopoldville, to advise the Congolese authorities, and to train local personnel.

In discussing recent developments regarding the United Nations, an earnest advocate of world government might label as significant any steps which would move the United Nations either toward or away from world government, while an American nationalist might consider activities of the United Nations significant if they either forwarded or frustrated American policies. Accepting, however, the value system of the United Nations Charter, developments may be considered significant insofar as they influence the probability of war, the security of fundamental human rights, respect for international justice, and the advancement of social and economic welfare. These criteria are vague, but they do exclude criteria flowing from values peculiar to any nation, religion, race, or economic class. Further, most of the peoples of the world have subscribed to them through the United Nations Charter.

The tenth session of the Ministerial Council of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) was held in London on April 30 and May 1, 1962. The Council exchanged views on international developments since its last meeting, and reported steady progress. The ministers were agreed that the free nations should continue their efforts to achieve disarmament with adequate provision for international inspection. Pending a disarmament agreement, however, the CENTO countries had to rely upon their common defense against the dangers which threatened them. The ministers therefore considered the progress made in improving the defensive strength of the alliance, as reported to them by the Military Committee, particularly with regard to increase of coordination and the improvement of joint facilities between existing defense forces.

The ninth meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic Development in South and South-East Asia was held in Saigon, Viet Nam, October 21–24, 1957. The committee considered the draft annual report which reviewed the progress of economic development in the area and outlined the unfinished tasks. It was announced that the annual Canadian contribution to the Colombo Plan would be increased in 1958–1959, subject to the approval of Parliament, to $35 million. The United States representative informed the conference that a new $300 million development loan fund was being organized by his government to assist countries of south and southeast Asia. The Federation of Malaya was welcomed as a member of the Colombo Plan. On the final day of the meeting the invitation of the United States to hold the next year's meeting in the United States was accepted. The meeting adopted the draft annual report and issued a communiqué which noted the economic progress made in the area in the year under review and outlined some of the future tasks in economic development.

In the sixteen years since the United Nations on the invitation of the United States established its principal headquarters in New York, there have been remarkably few incidents and little publicity in connection with the immunities and privileges of Members' representatives. This is no doubt due not to the clarity or quality of the relevant juridical instruments but to the tact and understanding of all concerned: the United Nations and more particularly its Secretaries-General, the representatives of the Member States and in a very large measure the Department of State and the United States Mission to the United Nations. It was the violent reaction of Chairman N. S. Khrushchev, attending the fifteenth session of the General Assembly as head of the Soviet Union delegation, against the restrictions imposed upon his movements in the United States by the Department of State which drew attention to the question of the rights and privileges of delegations to the United Nations. For the first time the head of the delegation of a great power and a permanent member of the Security Council was subjected to such restrictions. Speaking in the General Assembly, Mr. Khrushchev referred to “the various restrictions of the rights of representatives of States in the United Nations” and the “instances … of the representatives of young African and Asian States being subjected to racial discrimination.” He raised the question “whether or not thought should be given to the choice of another location for the United Nations Headquarters which would better facilitate the effective work of this international organization.”The nature and extent of these restrictions will be discussed below but it may be well to begin with a survey and analysis of the bewildering array of instruments which govern this matter.

Of the many aspects of the UN operation in the Congo (ONUC) that gave rise to controversy, some were unique and can reasonably be chalked up to novelty and inexperience. One, however, is as old as military history itself. This is the matter of political control of a force once it is in the field. Two levels are involved: first, control of the field operations by headquarters; second, control of the military force in the field by the civilian authority—in this case the representative of the Secretary-General.

The resumed 26th session of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) was held in New York on October 23 and December 10 and 11, 1958, under the presidency of Mr. Davidson (Canada). A draft resolution by which ECOSOC would decide to enable the International Atomic Energy Agency to become a member of the Technical Assistance Board and to participate in the Expanded Program of Technical Assistance was adopted unanimously at the 1045th meeting. The Council elected the members of the Governing Council of the Special Fund: elected as members representing the economically more advanced countries were Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States; and representing the less-developed countries were Argentina, Chile, Ghana, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the United Arab Republic, and Yugoslavia. Brazil was elected as a member of the Technical Assistance Committee to fill the vacancy resulting from the election of Venezuela to ECOSOC. At its 1046th meeting the Council elected the following seven members of the Council Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations for 1959: China, Costa Rica, France, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Council unanimously confirmed the names of persons nominated by governments to represent them on the functional commissions of ECOSOC. The delegate of France announced that his country had been unable to take advantage of the extended time-limit for the submission of lists of the territories it wished to be admitted as associate members of the Economic Commission for Africa. The Council unanimously adopted a resolution designed to make the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies applicable to the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization.

At a meeting of senior officials of the seven-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) held in London, February 12–13, 1960, the organization was reported to have chosen Geneva as the site of its headquarters, after the French government had informed it that it could not accept the proposal that Paris be the site, since France was not a member of EFTA. Although EFTA did not officially come into being until May 3, 1960, with the deposition of the seven instruments of ratification with the Swedish government, the preparatory meeting of its Ministerial Council was held in Vienna on March 11–12, devoting itself principally to an examination of the most important problem facing this new organization—namely, its relations with third countries, especially those of the European Economic Community (EEC). The member states declared their readiness to discuss with the EEC members the possible extension to the Six and to other countries, subject to reciprocity, of the 20-percent tariff reduction effective among themselves on July 1, 1960, and reaffirmed the importance of a continuation of European economic cooperation within the framework of the Organization for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), of which they would like to see the United States and Canada become full members. Also in March, EFTA members reportedly received the assurance of the United States government that its approval of a recent decision of EEC, concerning the reduction of its external tariff on July 1, 1960, did not reflect any animosity toward the Association.

The seventeenth annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was held in Washington, D.C., from September 17 through September 21, 1962, under the chairmanship of Mr. Ahmed Zaki Saad, Governor for Saudi Arabia. In his opening address, Mr. Per Jacobsson, Managing Director of IMF, commented on the relation of the Fund's assistance to capital transactions. He remarked that although the Fund's resources had been used in situations involving capital transfers, there had been some uncertainty as to the extent to which, or the circumstances in which, the Fund's resources could be used for helping to meet those deficits in the balance of payments of members that went beyond the current account and were attributable in whole or in part to capital transfers. By a decision of July 1961 the Executive Directors were able to eliminate any doubt which had not already been dissipated by the practice of the Fund that the Fund's resources could be used to alleviate pressures brought about by capital transfers, in accordance with the criteria of Article VI and other relevant provisions of the Fund Agreement. Thus, if a country facing a disequilibrating outflow of capital were to turn to the Fund for assistance, one of the criteria which the Fund would apply would be to satisfy itself that the appropriate measures were being taken to overcome the balance of payments difficulties, and that the assistance provided by the Fund would be repaid at the earliest opportunity, and in any event not later than three to five years after the drawing.

The fifth regular session of the General Assembly, meeting at Lake Success on September 19, 1950, had before it an agenda of 70 items. The Assembly was expected to discuss, in particular, questions concerning Palestine, the former Italian colonies, the Balkans, threats to the political integrity of China, the problem of the independence of Korea, observance of human rights, international control of atomic energy, technical assistance for under-developed areas, freedom of information, refugees and stateless persons, matters concerning trusteeship and non-self-governing territories, administrative and budgetary matters, reports of the specialized agencies, and reports of the Secretary-General on activities of the organization during the year.

The Governing Body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) held its 130th session in Geneva from November 15 through 19, 1955, under the chairmanship of Mr. A. H. Brown (Canada). After deciding that the 40th session of the ILO Conference should open in Geneva on June 5, 1957, and noting that, in addition to the regular agenda items, the questions of forced labor, weekly rest in commerce and offices, and living and working conditions of indigenous populations in independent countries were likely to be carried over from the 39th session, the Governing Body considered several documents submitted to it by the Director-General (Morse) relating to possible further agenda items for the 40th session. The Governing Body, after some discussion, decided to add to the agenda two new items: 1) discrimination in the field of employment and occupation, and 2) conditions of employment of plantation workers.

The Political Consultative Committee established under the Warsaw collective security treaty held its first meeting in Prague on January 27 and 28, 1956. In addition to representatives of the eight signatory powers (Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Rumania and the Soviet Union), an observer from the People's Republic of China attended the meeting. According to press reports, a declaration was issued at the close of the two-day meeting in which an immediate big-power agreement to exclude nuclear weapons from the equipment of any armies stationed in Germany was proposed. The declaration said that the Warsaw powers noted a basic change in the international situation and the existence of possibilities for its further improvement; while in Europe the continued armament of the western powers and the remilitarization of Germany made it essential for the signatories to ensure their own safety, at the same time they intended to work constantly for a system of collective security and general disarmament. Specifically, the declaration renewed an earlier Soviet proposal for a European collective security system and the establishment of a zone to include all Germany, where arms and troops would be limited and controlled. In the meantime, it recommended that nonaggression pacts should be made between states, and in general a start should be made to improve relations between states, irrespective of their existing or eventual membership in one or another military bloc. A communique issued with the declaration announced that the newly created army of the German Democratic Republic had been formally accepted into the command of Marshal Ivan S. Konev, supreme commander of the Warsaw treaty military structure.

According to press reports, the foreign ministers of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, east Germany, Poland, Rumania, and the Soviet Union met in Warsaw with the deputy foreign ministers of Hungary and the People's Republic of China on April 27–28, 1959. Although for formal and legal reasons the Chinese minister had the status of an observer, he nevertheless took a full part in the bloc's determination of its European policy. The conference was said to have been the first occasion on which the Soviet Union had called together the other members of the Pact to brief and consult with them on its policy before a four-power meeting.

Organized international intervention in colonial affairs has never found favor in the eyes of the European colonial powers. It did not at San Francisco when they sought to restrict the United Nations role in non-self-governing territories. It was not well received when the Security Council dealt with Indonesia nor were its results favored when the General Assembly disposed of the Italian empire. It does not please them, now, when the focus of public attention is on the political, economic, and social development of the colonies.

In 1964 Secretary-General U Thant asserted that more significant progress in achieving some measures of disarmament has taken place since the summer of 1963 than in all the years since the founding of the United Nations.

The evidence cited included five achievements: 1) the coming into force in October 1963 of the Moscow Treaty, a partial test-ban treaty banning nuclear-weapons tests in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water to which more than 100 states had subscribed by 1965; 2) the establishment of the direct communications link between Moscow and Washington; 3) the resolution of the General Assembly to ban nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction from outer space; 4) the unilateral reductions of the military budgets of the Soviet Union and the United States; and 5) the mutual cutbacks in production of fissionable material for military purposes by these two countries and the United Kingdom.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced on February 16, 1960, a loan of $42 million to Iran for an electric power generation, irrigation, and flood control project on the Dez River. The Bank's loan, which was for a term of 25 years and bore interest of 6frac14 percent with amortization beginning August 1, 1964, was to cover the foreign exchange costs of building the project with a total cost of $83 million.