The founding fifty years ago of a society to promote the establishment of international relations on the basis of law and justice was a step marking the progress that had been made at the beginning of the century in the age-long efforts to find a means of substituting reason for force in the settlement of international controversies. At that time arbitration was generally regarded as the most suitable and acceptable substitute for war. Great Britain and the United States had both heavily contributed to that conviction first by submitting to arbitration under the Jay Treaty of 1794 the numerous misunderstandings that developed in carrying out the provisions of the Peace Treaty of 1783, and then three-quarters of a century later in submitting to arbitration by the Treaty of Washington of 1871 the dangerous Alabama Claims dispute following the American Civil War.

It seems that the development of the laws of war from the beginnings of our international law to the present day has completed a full circle. With the definitive decentralization of the medieval communitas Christiana and the coming into existence of the national sovereign state, wars appeared in which new methods for the conduct of war—armies of mercenaries on foot, invention of gunpowder—were combined with the deep ideological split between Catholics and Protestants. The wars of that time were conducted with the greatest cruelty and inhumanity, reaching their climax with the terrible Thirty Years’ War, which may well be called a total war.

Many recent and important treaties contain provisions in favor of third states. The United Nations Charter, for instance, confers upon non-member states the right to participate in the discussion of disputes in which they are involved (Article 32); the right to bring such disputes to the attention of the Security Council or the General Assembly (Article 35); and the right to consult the Security Council with regard to the solution of special economic problems arising from the application of preventive or enforcement measures (Article 50). Also Articles 2 (7) and 81 have been interpreted and applied as conferring rights upon states not Members of the Organization.

Muslim states have shown in recent years eagerness to participate in international organizations and co-operate with other Powers to promote international peace and security. This is a significant phenomenon in the behavior of states whose traditional law of nations is so radically different from the modern law of nations and the principles implied in the United Nations Charter.

Prior to World War II, U. S. commercial treaties either were silent concerning the applicability of their provisions to corporations and other associations, or provided in only a limited way for such entities. From the start, treaties of this kind concluded by the United States have been concerned with the rights and privileges of persons. It was not until 1911, however, that these treaties began to reflect attention to companies as such—artificial, as distinguished from natural—persons. Only during the last ten years have they dealt with companies systematically and comprehensively to a degree comparable with the treatment provided for natural persons.

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.

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.