Since the summer of 1949 a number of resolutions embodying proposals for world or regional federation have been pending in the Congress of the United States. During the early months of 1950, extended hearings on these various proposals have been held by the Senate Subcommittee on Foreign Relations headed by Senator Elbert Thomas. The purpose of this article is to present a critical study of the background, content, and the implications of the projects thus submitted for congressional action.

The Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held its 57th session in Paris from October 28 to December 12, 1960. Under the heading, Execution of the Program, die Board discussed the item “Commemoration of anniversaries of great personalities and events.” In connection with diis item it was decided to request the Director-General to dispatch circular letters to member states, national commissions, and nongovernmental organizations drawing dieir attention to an attached list of great personalities and events and asking them to inform the Director-General of action taken by them to organize such commemorative celebrations as they deemed appropriate.

I. The Rationale of the Veto

At the time of San Francisco, and intermittently since, five separate but interrelated arguments have been advanced to support the veto privilege: I) that the terms of Article 27 (3) of the Charter, by requiring big power negotiations before a vote is taken, in fact guarantee preservation of international peace; 2) that, since big powers cannot and will not submit to being voted into a war by small and medium states, the chain of events theory is valid and a big power should be permitted to exercise a veto on a subject which might eventually lead to enforcement action by the United Nations; 3) that the veto acts as a kind of safety valve preserving the status quo and preventing controversial changes which might cause conflict among the Big Five; 4) that the veto enables states in a minority position to protect their vital interests against infringement by the majority; and finally, 5) that the veto has, in fact, been used as a bargaining weapon by small states or by a minority.

An analysis of UN coverage in sample years between 1948 and 1975 by five representative black U.S. newspapers as compared with the New York Times and, to a lesser extent, the Chicago Tribune shows that UN coverage by the black press since 1961 has declined, as it has for the white press, but that the decline in black press coverage is not only less sharp but has also been somewhat reversed in recent years. Patterns of coverage differ: greater priority is accorded in the black press to Africa and Asia and more emphasis is placed on personalities, especially on black Americans at the United Nations. Comparisons of black press coverage with UN “busyness” and with the differentials of support for the UN that have been manifested over the years in both black and white public opinion reveal no clear correlations.

Perhaps the most striking development in the non-political activities of the United Nations system during recent years has been the rapid expansion of its field operations. While this evolution received its chief impetus from the “Expanded” Technical Assistance Program (ETAP)inaugurated in 1950, there have also been significant shifts of emphasis toward “aids to member states” in the “regular” programs of those specialized agencies concerned with welfare, notably the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and most recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This growth in the volume of outpost activities has led not only to the establishment of field offices in many countries but to an increasing consideration of the pros and cons of devolving the administration of aid programs from central headquarters to the country or regional level.

Listed below is the membership of United Nations bodies for 1968. Unless otherwise noted, membership expires on December 31 of the year indicated in parentheses. Where names of individuals are listed, the members serve in their personal capacities and not as representatives of states; their nationalities are given for information only.

The General Assembly held its fifth emergency special session at the request of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics with the concurrence of a majority of Member States. The session comprised the 1525th–1558th plenary meetings, held between July 4 and 21, 1967, with a final meeting, the 1559th, held on September 18, 1967. Abdul Rahman Pazhwak (Afghanistan), President of the 21st session of the General Assembly, presided over the emergency session

The 40th session of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Conference, was held in Geneva from June 5 to 27, 1957, under the presidency of Mr. H. E. Holt (government delegate and Minister for Labor and National Service, Australia). The meetings were attended by delegates, advisers, and observers from 73 member countries and ten territories.

The 24th session of the Economic and Social Council was held in Geneva from July 2 through August 2, 1957. Mr. M. Mir Khan (Pakistan) continued as President of the Council.

During the period from July 10, 1947 to December 23, 1948, thirteen policy decisions were adopted by the Far Eastern Commission. These fell primarily into three categories–disarmament, democratization, and the determination of a self-sustaining economy for Japan. In the first category the Commission adopted a policy decision on February 12, 1948, entitled “Prohibition of Military Activity in Japan and Disposition of Japanese Military Equipment”. Under the terms of this decision a ministry of war was forbidden, and possession by Japanese of arms, ammunition and implements of war and the development, manufacture or importation of these articles was prohibited

The twelfth session of the Council of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM) was held in Naples, May 5–13, 1960. Representative Francis E. Walter of Pennsylvania was chairman of the session. A highlight of the meeting was the ceremony honoring the one millionth migrant to be resettled by ICEM, an eleven-year-old Latvian boy named Andrejs Suritis, who subsequently flew to the United States with his father.

The twentieth session of the South Pacific Commission was held at Commission headquarters in Nouméa, New Caledonia, from October 13 to 23, 1959. It was attended by representatives of the six member nations, Australia, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States; the Chairman was Dean Knowles A. Ryerson, Senior Commissioner for the United States. The meeting studied progress made during the past year by the Commission in its three main fields of work —economic development, health, and social development—and reviewed its work program for 1960.

There was announced in Paris, in July, a series of meetings attended by representatives of the eighteen member countries of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), as well as by representatives of the United States, Canada, and the European Communities, which were concerned with the framework and scope of the new Organization for European Cooperation and Development (OECD), intended to replace OEEC. Discussion centered on whether or not the solution of trade problems should be included as one of the objectives of the future organization, with differences of opinion over the scope of the organization being expressed by proponents of the Europe of the old OEEC versus participants in the European Economic Community (EEC) and others, the former convinced of the need for a European forum of discussion of trade questions, and the latter preferring to work out such problems through the world organization of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). A special report, considered at a previous meeting of the same representatives in May, had recommended the establishment of an organization which was to be largely a consultative body with no definite responsibility for trade questions, but because of disagreement on the part of some of the smaller countries, notably Sweden and Switzerland, a working party had been set up, which, at the July meeting, recommended the establishment of a trade committee, whose task was to be the examination of all trade questions, subject to some liberalization of OEEC obligations.

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..

To mark the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO), the eleventh regular session of the Assembly was preceded by a special two-day tenth anniversary commemorative session. The eleventh session was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from May 28 to June 13, 1958. The President of the Assembly (Dr. Leroy E. Burney) stated in his inaugural address that WHO's efforts during its first ten years had been concentrated largely on the fight against the major communicable diseases. He emphasized the necessity for more research, the importance of intensifying training activities, and the need for wider public participation in health work. The Director-General, introducing his report on the work of WHO during 1957, stated that one indication of the direction in which WHO's work was likely to develop in the future was to be found in the repeated references made in the report to the coordination of research. He stated that one of the most pressing immediate needs continued to be the strengthening of national health services. He proposed an effective working budget for 1959 of $14,287,600, which represented an increase of 5.3 percent over the effective working budget for 1958. The Assembly approved the proposed budget.

Covering the financial year from April 1, 1962, to March 31, 1963, the 33rd annual report of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) was submitted to the annual general meeting of the Bank held in Basle on June 10, 1963.

Despite the fact that the Ninth International Conference of American States was overshadowed in press and popular mind by the dramatic explosion that rocked the conference city of Bogota in April, there can be little doubt that the outstanding achievement of the conference was not the largely sterile anti-Communist resolution, but rather the new Charter of the Americas. With their signature to this Charter the delegates of the twenty-oneindependent republics have completed a reorganization of the inter-American framework which was begun at least fifteen years ago

The Assembly of the Western European Union (WEU) held the second part of its seventh ordinary session in Paris on December 11–15, 1961, under the presidency of Mr. Arthur Conte (French Socialist). In addition to discussing the state of European security, the Assembly debated questions concerning Berlin and the agricultural problems involved in the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Economic Community (EEC). The debate on agriculture was concerned with the implementation of recommendation 53, adopted in November 1960, in which the Assembly had called for negotiations for the accession of the United Kingdom to the EEC as a full member. Mr. Sicco Mansholt, vice-chairman of the EEC Commission, stated that if the United Kingdom entered the EEC, her agriculture would not have to overcome any exceptional difficulties which would justify a longer transition period than that of the six original members. He stated that this conclusion had been reached after a detailed comparison of relative prices and outputs in the United Kingdom and the six members of EEC. The Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution, presented by Mr. Hubert Leynen (Belgian Social Christian), calling upon the seven member governments of WEU to spare no effort to insure the success of the Brussels negotiations.

The 37th session of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), comprising the 1314th-1351st meetings, was held in Geneva from July 13, 1964, to August 15, 1964. At the 1314th meeting Sir Ronald Walker (Australia) was elected President of the Council; Mr. Matsui (Japan) was elected First Vice President; and Mr. Chanderli (Algeria) was elected Second Vice President.