No field of study is more slippery than international relations. The student of government has a clear frame of reference: the state within which occur the developments which he examines. The student of international relations, unhappily, oscillates between the assumption of a world community which does not exist, except as an ideal, and the various units whose decisions and connections form the pattern of world politics—mainly, the nation-states. International organizations therefore tend to be considered either as the first institutions of a world in search of its constitution or as instruments of foreign policies. The scholar who follows the first approach usually blames, correctly enough, the nation-states for the failures of the organization; but he rarely indicates the means which could be used to bring the realities of world society into line with his ideal. The scholar who takes the second approach stresses, accurately enough, how limited the autonomy of international organizations has been and how little they have contributed to the achievement of their objectives; but because he does not discuss his fundamental assumption—the permanence of the nation-state's driving role in world politics—he reaches somewhat too easily the conclusion that the only prospect in international affairs is more of the same.

The existence of regional arrangements rests on two assumptions: First, the recognition that world unity, based on a common way of life and common values, is still very distant; and second, the increasingly inescapable conviction that, in our time, the great majority of national states are political and economic units illequipped to develop fully and even survive on solely national bases. Politically, most states have lost ground in a world which has had its centers of power radically diminished in the course of a generation. Economically, they are units too small to develop fully their natural resources and overcome their poverty unless they work together. The modern world needs to create regional units as a bridge between the isolated national state and a sufficiently integrated world collectivity of the future.

1948 and 1949 were critical years of decision for many European nations caught in a web of events of such significance and suddenness as to call into question in a matter of months political traditions and concepts whose roots reached well back into die nineteenth century. Faced with the expanding east-west conflict, many countries felt themselves not only endangered and forced to look to their military defenses, but also obliged to choose one side or the other in die developing struggle.

From time to time the Editors find it useful to survey some of the new literature in the field of international organization. This time the reviewer has chosen to comment upon all the literature of a certain period within defined limits, instead of selecting three or four outstanding titles for more careful treatment. This article examines briefly all books published in the United States during 1954, 1955, and almost the first half of 1956 that deal primarily with the field of international organization, but with certain classes of exception.

Report of the Committee on Contributions: In its report to the eleventh session of the General Assembly The Committee on Contributions stated that in accordance with its terms of reference it had considered the rates of assessment to be recommended for the new Member states admitted at the tenth session of the Assembly; it had also considered the question of the inclusion of those rates in the scale of assessments approved by the General Assembly for the contributions of Member states to the UN budgets for the financial years 1956, 1957 and 1958. In the case of all the new Members, with the exception of Libya, percentage rates had already been established for their contributions towards the 1956, 1957 and 1958 expenses of the UN activities in which they had participated before becoming Members. These rates had been calculated on the basis of information relating to national income estimates comparable to that on which the assessments of the then Members had been computed. The Committee had also applied to these countries the same allowance for low per capita income as for Member states, and had taken into account all the other relevant factors mentioned in its terms of reference; the Committee concluded that the rates established in that manner were appropriate in relation to the rates approved by the General Assembly for the assessment of Members, and on the basis of data available for Libya, found it appropriate to recommend the minimum assessment of 0.04 percent.

At the request of the United States the Council began consideration on March 26, 1956 of the extent of compliance by Israel and the Arab states with the Armistice Agreements and with the Security Council's resolutions of March 30, 1955, September 8, 1955 and January 19, 1956. The representatives of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria took part in the Council's discussions. The Council had before it a draft resolution submitted by the United States in the preambular part of which the Council recalled the three earlier resolutions; noted that in each of these resolutions the Chief of Staff of the Truce Supervision Organization and the parties to the General Armistice Agreements concerned had been requested by the Council to undertake certain specific steps for the purpose of ensuring that the tensions along the armistice lines should be reduced; and noted with grave concern that despite the efforts of the Chief of Staff the proposed steps had not been carried out. Under the terms of the operative part of the resolution, the Council 1) considered that the situation currently prevailing between the parties concerning the enforcement of the Armistice Agreements and the compliance given to the above-mentioned resolutions of the Council was such that its continuance was likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security; 2) requested the Secretary-General to undertake, as a matter of urgent concern, a survey of the various aspects of enforcement of and compliance with the four General Armistice Agreements and the three earlier resolutions;

The Sub-Committee of the Disarmament Commission (Canada, France, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and United States) held its 69th through 86th meetings, from March 19, 1956 through May 4, 1956, in London. France and the United Kingdom submitted a working document on March 19 providing for a plan in three stages, each of which was divided from the following one by the operations which were to be carried out by the control organ; each signatory was entitled to request an extension after each stage if one of the contracting parties had in good faith been unable to fulfill its obligations, the case being referred to the Security Council in certain clearly specified serious cases. The first stage called for the following sequence: 1) states would prohibit the use of nuclear weapons except in defense against aggression; 2) the general assembly of the international disarmament organization would meet to designate the non-permanent members of the executive committee and the director-general of the control organ; 3) the director-general would begin the recruitment and positioning of the first elements of the control organ; 4) after states had declared the levels of their armed forces and conventional armaments, they would not exceed those levels or their total declared military expenditure; 5) simultaneously, the aerial surveys provided for in the Eisenhower plan at Geneva, the fixed controls provided for in the Bulganin plan, and financial inspection would come into operation; 6) a meeting of the general assembly of the international disarmament organization would determine levels of armed forces and conventional armaments for states other than the permanent members of the Security Council, on the understanding that the highest of those levels would be “considerably below” the lowest of those fixed for the permanent members of the Security Council;

Economic Commission for Europe: The eleventh session of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) was held in Geneva from April 5 to 21, 1956, under the chairmanship of Pierre Forthomme (Belgium). Attending the meeting were more than 250 delegates from 29 European countries and the United States, as well as observers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Israel, Venezuela, and several inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations. The Commission considered the reports of its committees on agriculture, coal, electric power, housing, inland transport, steel, timber, and the development of trade, and expressed praise for their accomplishments. The Commission also invited the Executive Secretary to convene a working party of experts on water pollution in Europe, the recommendations of which would be submitted to the twelfth session of the Commission. During its lengthy debate on the status of the German Democratic Republic in ECE the Commission had before it a draft resolution submitted by Czechoslovakia which proposed 1) that the Economic and Social Council, at its 22d session, accept the German Democratic Republic as a member of ECE, and 2) that the Executive Secretary invite representatives of the German Democratic Republic to participate in the current session with the right of consultative vote. Among those supporting the resolution were representatives of the Soviet Union, Poland, Rumania, Hungary, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Bulgaria, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and Albania, who maintained that the German Democratic Republic had made useful contributions in ECE subsidiary organs and should be entitled to a place in the Commission itself; on the other hand, the representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Greece, Netherlands, Ireland, Turkey, the United States, Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy and Denmark opposed admitting the German Democratic Republic to ECE. In order to reconcile the conflicting points of view on the matter, Czechoslovakia revised its draft resolution to propose that observers of the German Democratic Republic be allowed to take part in the current session of the Commission. The resolution was rejected by 17 votes to n with 1 abstention.

The seventeenth session of the Trusteeship Council was held at UN Headquarters from February 7 to April 6, 1956, with Mason Sears (United States) acting as president and Max Dorsinville (Haiti) as vicepresident. The Council adopted an agenda of thirteen items, and devoted the greater part of the session to examination of the annual reports on the administration of the trust territories of Tanganyika, Ruanda-Urundi, Cameroons under United Kingdom administration, Cameroons under French administration, and Togoland under French administration; in connection with the annual reports, the Council also considered the report on Togoland under French administration of the visiting mission to Togoland under United Kingdom and under French administration, and the reports on Cameroons under United Kingdom and under French administration of the 1955 visiting mission to those territories. Before concluding the session the Council also dealt with petitions relating to trust territories, and with a number of questions referred to it by the General Assembly and by the Economic and Social Council.

Case of the Norwegian Loans Issued in France (France v. Norway): In an order of April 24, 1956, the Court fixed June 4, 1956, as the time-limit within which the French government might present a written statement of its observations and submissions in regard to certain preliminary objections raised by the Kingdom of Norway, questioning the jurisdiction of the Court and contending that the claim submitted by the application of France was inadmissible. In an order of May 29, 1956, the Court decided, as a result of a request presented on behalf of the Kingdom of Norway, to depart from its original intention of opening the oral hearings on June 25, 1956, and postpone the opening of the oral proceedings. In the same order, the Court extended to August 31, 1956, the time-limit for the filing by France of its observations and submissions in regard to the preliminary objections raised by the Kingdom of Norway.

The eighth session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was held in Rome from November 4 through 25, 1955 under the chairmanship of the Right Honorable K. J. Holyoake (New Zealand). The Conference had accepted the proposals submitted by the FAO Council on the organization of the eighth session, and consequently established various commissions to deal with agenda items pertaining to program trends and policy questions in food and agriculture, constitutional and legal questions, and administrative and financial questions. During its discussion of the world food and agricultural situation, the Conference noted that world per capita agricultural production, which had decreased by ten to fifteen percent at the end of World War II, had regained its pre-war level in spite of an increase of nearly 25 percent in population. However, agricultural production had increased more rapidly in advanced countries than in economically under-developed ones, so that per capita production in Asia and Latin America wasstill below pre-war levels, while surpluses had built up in the more advanced countries. The Conference felt that this situation was due to a failure to expand effective demand for farm products as rapidly as technical developments made it possible to expand production. Although the Conference noted that surplus agricultural commodities had increased more slowly in 1954–1955 than in the two preceding years, it felt that this had been due at least as much to poor crops in some countries as to increased consumption or to a planned reduction of output.

During the period from March 29 to June 6, 1956, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development made eight loans in seven countries. A loan of $5 million to the Empresa Electrica Quito, S.A. was announced by the Bank on March 29, to help finance hydroelectric and thermal power projects near Quito, Ecuador. The total cost of the projects, which were expected to nearly triple the supply of power to Quito, was estimated at $9 million. The Bank of America N.T. & S.A. participated in the loan, without the Bank's guarantee, to the extent of $197,000. The loan, the Bank's second in Ecuador, was for a period of 20 years at an annual interest of 4% percent, including the Bank's commission; amortization was to begin on August 1, 1959. The loan was guaranteed by the government of Ecuador.

The annual report of the Director-General (Morse) of the International Labor Organization (ILO) to the 39th session of the ILO Conference emphasized the effects of technological change on social patterns. The Director-General stated that in the economically under-developed countries where industrialization was proceeding at a rapid pace, vast numbers of persons had been uprooted from their traditional ways of life, and communal and family ties had weakened in the new industrial societies. In the industrially advanced countries, the Director General continued, the expansion of industry had constantly affected various aspects of the social life of the people, such as their consumption habits and their leisure time; he maintained that the progress of technology and economic organization had made industry an increasingly intricate mechanism, with the result that even the skilled worker comprehended less and less of the total process anddeveloped a feeling of helplessness in the face of industrial forces. According to the DirectorGeneral, if no means were found of giving a real social significance to industrial work in the industrialized countries, the danger of violence and turmoil would be increased rather than lessened by the growth of industry. The Director-General felt that the ILO had a special responsibility for dealing with the problems of social relationships and institutional growth. He asserted that ILO's regular program would help to fulfill this responsibility and he noted ILO's work on cooperative organization and the activities of the industrial committees as examples of the way the organization had approached these problems in the past. He suggested three main lines of development for ILO's future work in this field: i) to increase awareness throughout the world of the implications for social policy of new industrial processes, such as the application of automation in industry and the industrial uses of atomic energy; 2) to establish a workers' education program which would provide practical training for the workers in different countries in how to deal rationally and effectively with their own social problems; and 3) to promote better labor-management relations.

The International Monetary Fund approved a proposal by the government of Chile to make certain fundamental changes in that country's exchange system, effective April 16, 1956. According to a press release the new exchange system replaced a complex structure of multiple rates and import licensing regulations, and established an exchange market in which the rate for commercial imports and exports, government transactions and some invisible transactions would be responsive to supply and demand forces. There would continue to be a second exchange market for other invisible transactions. At the same time the Fund entered into a one year stand-by credit agreement which enabled Chile to purchase up to $35 million in currencies held by the Fund. In addition, other Chilean arrangements provided for credits of $30 million from private banks in the United States and an exchange agreement with the United States Treasury in the amount of $10 million. These resources were intended to assist the Chilean authorities in their administration of an exchange reform, accompanied by a comprehensive program of fiscal and monetary measures directed toward economic stability. The Fund stated that it intended to remain in close touch with the Chilean authorities regarding the new exchange system.

40th session: The 40th session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Executive Board was held in Montevideo, Uruguay on December 11, 1954, under the chairmanship of Dr. Arcot L. Mudaliar (India). The Board approved a few drafting amendments to its Rules of Procedure as a result of amendments made to the Constitution by the eighth session of the General Conference; it postponed further discussion of drafting amendments to the rules until the Board's 41st session. After electing the chairmen for the finance commission, the program commission and the external relations commission, the Board requested its Bureau to submit proposals on membership to the permanent commissions to its next session. The Board authorized the Director-General to continue consultations with the Organization of American States (OAS) in regard to a regional conference in Latin America in 1956 on the extension of free and compulsory school education, and if possible, to prepare and convene such a conference in Brazil in the fall of 1955 in association with OAS.

The activities of the World Health Organization (WHO) during 1955 were surveyed in the anuual report to the World Health Assembly and to the UN of the WHO Director-General, Dr. Marcoline G. Candau. During 1955, Dr. Candau stated, substantial results had been achieved in three categories of programs: the fight against communicable diseases, the strengthening of national health services, and the raising of standards of education and training for all types of health personnel. Malaria, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, and trachoma were among the communicable diseases towards the eradication of which WHO activities had been directed, with in many instances considerable progress. However, it had become increasingly evident that the beneficial effects of such campaigns against disease could only constitute concrete gains for public health if national health services could be effectively strengthened, and during 1955 a large part of WHO's work had continued to be devoted to that aim, in all regions but particularly in the Americas, southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. In the development of national health services, particular attention had been devoted to such matters as the principle of program integration, nutrition and health education, changes in health services necessitated by the aging of populations, mental health, and environmental sanitation. In regard to education and training of health personnel, an effort had been made in the regions to increase the use of all methods which had proved their value in the past, including direct training of health personnel at all levels, provision of fellowships for study abroad, assistance to institutions and the sponsoring of international conferences, training courses and seminars.

The heads of state of three members of the Arab League, Premier Nasser of Egypt, King Saud of Saudi Arabia and King Ahmed of Yemen, met in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, on April 20 and 21, 1956, to form a military alliance. At the meeting the three leaders also exchanged views on plans to insure the development of economic, cultural and technical cooperation among their countries. According to a communique issued at the end of the meeting, the three leaders had reached agreement “in the light of the Arab people's aspirations, freedom, dignity, peace and security”. Some press observers stated that the Egyptian-Syrian-Saudi Arabian military alliance formed in March 1956 had as its primary aim the forging of a strong Arab defense around Israel, while the new Saudi Arabian-Egyptian-Yemen pact appeared to be aimed chiefly at the United Kingdom and its claims in the area.

The second part of the seventh ordinary session of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe was held in Strasbourg from October 14 to 27, 1955, under the presidency of Mr. Guy Mollet (France, Socialist).

The permanent representatives of the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) met on March 27, 1956 in Paris, to consider the Algerian situation; the Council announced that it had been kept constantly informed of the with drawals by France of forces assigned by that country to NATO defense in Europe, and had examined the situation in Europe arising from these troop movements. After noting that France had found it necessary, in the interests of its own security, to reinforce the French forces in Algeria, which was part of the North Atlantic Treaty area, the Council stated that it recognized the importance to NATO of security in this area. After expressing hope for an early and lasting settlement, the Council noted the determination of the French government to restore, as soon as possible, its full contribution towards the common defense in Europe. According to a later news report, General Gruenther (Supreme Allied Commander Europe) declared that it might become necessary to seek other forces to replace those which France had transferred to Algeria; he felt that a re-evaluation of the allied position in Europe in the light of the Algerian situation might be started about the end of 1956 if the Algerian situation had not been stabilized by that time.

A report of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) on the relaxation of quantitative restrictions on imports of goods and restrictions on invisible transactions and transfers relating to the dollar area was made public during the period under review. The report was based on the replies of OEEC countries to a questionnaire approved by the OEEC Council, and on memoranda submitted by the two associate members, Canada and the United States. According to the report, substantial progress had been made since 1953 in the liberalization of imports from the dollar area and the relaxation of quantitative restrictions on imports of non-freed dollar commodities, with the extent and rapidity of the progress varying from one country to another. In general, the level of liberalization had been less for manufactured goods than for food and raw materials. In analyzing the effects of liberalization, the report stated that the very appreciable increase in dollar imports of raw materials and basic commodities had been not so much the result of liberalization itself as of the increased economic activity in member countries; and that on the whole, there had not been any sudden large-scale increase in imports from the dollar area of manufactured goods which had been freed by some countries. Since the imports of freed commodities from the United States and Canada had taken place against the background of a general increase in member countries' imports, there had not been generally any adverse change in the pattern of imports, particularly in regard to intra-European imports or those from other non-dollar countries. Nevertheless, the report stated, the increase in imports had contributed to the deterioration of the trade balance of member countries with the associated countries during the second half of 1954 and the first half of 1955, since exports to these countries did not rise above the 1953 level. However, because of increased American military expenditure in Europe, the current balance of member countries as a whole with the associated countries still showed a slight surplus.