The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) held its seventeenth session in Bucharest on December 74–20, 1962, attended by delegates from Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. A communiqué stated that a permanent currency and finance commission had been set up under the Council to develop cooperation in those fields among COMECON member countries, that international specialization and “socialist division of labor” among members had increased, and that during the first nine months of 7962 over-all trade among member countries had risen by 15 percent and trade in machinery and industrial equipment by 24 percent. The communiqué noted that the COMECON countries were now largely self-sufficient in certain raw materials, manufactures, etc., notably lignite, hard coal, oil and oil products, fertilizers, grain, machinery and industrial equipment, and timber.

The Korean war will no doubt long be regarded as the crucial test of the ability of the United Nations to meet armed aggression with international force. In view of the complexity of the events connected with the war, it may be useful to attempt a tentative appraisal of the United Nations' role up to the point of truce negotiations

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 Universal Postal Union, the most widespread of international associations, is composed of all nations of the world. Established by international convention, it was first set up in 1874 by representatives of national postal administrations. Details of the Union are worked out in a series of “arrangements” and “règlements”; members of the organization propose amendments to the documents mentioned and discussion then takes place in the Congress.

“The nations seem to be advancing to unity,” wrote Alexis de Tocqueville in 1835. “Our means of intellectual intercourse unite the most remote parts of the earth; and it is impossible for men to remain strangers to each other, or to be ignorant of the events which are taking place in any corner of the globe.”

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.

As early as January 19, 1948, the press reported that the devaluation of the French franc was under consideration by the French Government as a measure to stimulate French exports. Lengthy consultations between the French Director of the Fund (Mendès-France) and other officials of the Fund gave rise to the belief that agreement would be reached whereby the Fund could approve some devaluation of the franc. However, on January 25 the Fund announced that it could not permit the devaluation and that it regretted the decision of the French Government to proceed without the Fund's permission. Following French devaluation the following day, the Fund stated that it would continue to “work with the French Government in seeking a modification of these exchange practices in order to meet French needs within the framework of the international monetary arrangements established by the Fund Agreement.” The Fund subsequently accepted a provisional adjustment in its holdings of the franc from approximately 67,940 million to 122,292 million, representing an 80 per cent increase over January 24, 1948.

My purpose in this article is to trace as briefly as possible the recent history of the movement for European unity, to indicate the policies it advocates and the results so far achieved; it is not to argue either for or against those policies or to speculate on what influence the movement may have in shaping the future of Europe.

The concept of a transnational system applies well to a study of labor in North America. For one thing, the chief characteristics of the labor market and of the institutions, procedures, and practices of labor relations are broadly similar in Canada and the United States as compared with other parts of the world. Although such similarities are not alone sufficient to suggest a system, there is also a persistent structure of relationships and interactions in labor matters extending across the boundary between the two countries. American investment in Canada and the so-called international unions are at the heart of this structure of relationships. Other segments of labor, whether organized in trade unions or unorganized, are connected with the heart of this transnational system through the continental flow of economic transactions.

In the Introduction to the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization, 16 June 1963–15 June 1964 Secretary-General U Thant observed that the publication of the Introduction had been delayed because of the postponement of the nineteenth session of the General Assembly until December 1, 1964. Taking advantage of this delay, he had brought the Introduction up to date.

The Ministerial Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held its eleventh annual ministerial review at NATO headquarters in Paris from December 16 to 18, 1960. The main topic of discussion at the meeting was the announcement by United States Secretary of State Christian Herter of what he reportedly termed a new concept for the operation of medium-range ballistic missiles. The United States plan included: 1) a proposal that NATO discuss a multilateral system for the political control of the weapons; 2) an offer to place five ballistic missile submarines armed with 80 Polaris missiles under the command of the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR), by the end of 1963; and 3) a suggestion that the other members of the alliance contribute approximately 100 more medium-range ballistic missiles by purchasing them in the United States. The press reported that Lord Home, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, welcomed the United States proposal and said that NATO should examine the possibility of a medium-range ballistic missile force under multilateral control, a suggestion in which M. Couve de Murville, the French Foreign Minister, concurred. The West German Defense Minister, Franz Joseph Strauss, told the Ministers, the press announced, that concrete decisions on the United States proposal should be taken in the near future, and that plans for NATO control of the Polaris missile force should be pushed through by military and political authorities early in the spring of 1961. The Council of Ministers decided to pass on to its Permanent Comand other related materials, according to the press.

The essays in this volume are designed to throw light on the relations between two of the major novel and unique features of the current epoch of human history, features which distinguish the last quarter century from any other episode in the long record of man's efforts to deal with the problems of his society.

At the 845th meeting of the Security Council, held at headquarters on January 30, 1959, a discussion of the Palestine question in terms of a letter dated January 26, from the permanent representative of Israel to the UN, began with statements by the parties concerned. The special meeting had been convened by die President of the Council in response to a request from the government of Israel.

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 Annual Report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1957, was transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on June 28, 1957. The report stated that boom conditions had continued throughout 1956, sustained by an undercurrent of private business investment sufficiently strong to compensate for weaknesses in individual sectors. The increase in the demand for capital, due largely to new production techniques, changes in agricultural and manufacturing methods, and growth in population, had been accompanied by a great volume of economic activity and an increased demand for public and private investment in social services and amenities. Although there had been no further significant extension of restrictions, inflationary tendencies had constituted a primary problem.

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.

On May 17, 1960, the European Parliamentary Assembly adopted unanimously, with 12 abstentions, a draft convention for election of its members by direct universal suffrage. The members of the Assembly were currently nominated by the six member national parliaments in proportion to party strength, but were the draft project, which had first to be approved by the Council of Ministers and ratified by the six national parliaments, to come into effect, a parliament directly responsible to the electorate of the six countries would be created for the first time. Elements of the proposal included: 1) an increase in the number of members from 142 to 426 who would vote individually and be forbidden to accept imperative instructions; and 2) a temporary provision proposing that, until the end of the transition period of the common market, only two-thirds of the members be directly elected, the other third to be appointed by the national parliaments as at present.

A Point of departure for considering the evolution of t!he judicial function in the United Nations system can be found in three interrelated decisions of principle incorporated in the UN Charter itself, of which the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) forms an integral part.