In the evolution of post-war international organization no problem, it can be argued, has moved with greater persistence into the foreground than that which focuses on the effort to devise common policies in the North Atlantic Community. Pressures to this end are both internal and external to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). On the one hand, the close military integration achieved by members impels them towards closer political integration. On the other hand, it is increasingly evident that NATO faces a threat which presents itself not only militarily but also politically through institutions and action programs reflecting a single political will. The effort to concert NATO policies is a reflection of the desirability and, in the opinion of many, the necessity of developing greater unity within the North Atlantic Community.

Since the signing and ratification of the treaties establishing the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), there has been renewed interest in the organization which pioneered die European effort toward economic integration under supra-national institutions. The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) commemorates this year two anniversaries which are of more dian usual significance. February 10 and May 1, 1958, mark die completion of die first five years of die common market for coal and iron ore, and for steel and scrap, respectively. February 10 also marks die end of die “period of transition” provided by die treaty to cushion die impact of competidon on weak industries and to facilitate their adaptation to die conditions of the common market. During this period, some member countries were authorized to continue certain customs duties (e.g., on Italian imports of coke and steel), subsidies (e.g., for Lorraine coal and coke), and odier protective devices; and in some cases, provision was made for financial assistance by the Community itself (e.g., in favor of coal mines in Belgium and Sardinia). But unlike the escape clauses included in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), diese exemptions and supports were limited to five years, widi die possibility, in some cases, of a further extension of two years. Also during this period, measures were to be taken to eliminate discriminatory practices and to harmonize the conditions of competition, particularly in transport, and a common tariff was to be worked out vis-à-vis non-member countries.

Eighth United Nations Technical Assistance Conference: At the Eighth UN Technical Assistance Conference, held under the presidency of Mr. Drago (Argentina) at UN Headquarters on October 10, 1957, 75 governments announced contributions which amounted to $30,250,000 for 1958. As a result of an increase in the contributions of 21 governments over the 1957 figures, the total contributions announced represented a net increase of approximately $600,000, allowing for actual reductions in several contributions due to fluctuations in the rates of exchange.

At its 791st meeting the Council began consideration of the India-Pakistan question in the light of a report by Ambassador Jarring on the visit he had made to the sub-continent at the request of the Council on February 21, 1957. The representative from Pakistan, Mr. Khan Noon, who opened the discussion, observed that Mr. Jarring stated that he could not report any concrete proposals likely to contribute towards a settlement of the dispute. Mr. Noon declared that every effort made by the four mediators appointed by the Council from time to time to create appropriate conditions in the state of Jammu and Kashmir for the holding of a fair and free plebiscite under the auspices of the UN had failed because India was not prepared to carry out its international obligations. Every suggestion made by Mr. Jarring for a peaceful solution of the problem was accepted by Pakistan, he said, so that if, as recorded in the report, his suggestions were not mutually acceptable, they were unacceptable only to India. Mr. Noon maintained that every problem having any bearing on the holding of a plebiscite was taken care of in the international agreement contained in the two United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan (UNCIP) resolutions of 1948 and 1949 and listed as violations of the resolutions a number of acts by India, such as the inclusion of Kashmir as a state of India in the Indian Constitution, and the financial integration of Kashmir into India in 1955. He enumerated several Pakistanian concessions, including the withdrawal of tribesmen and Pakistanian nationals from Kashmir in advance of the truce agreement, although this obligation arose only after the signing of the truce agreement, and the agreement to the large-scale disbandment of Azad forces before the Plebiscite Administrator assumed office, although under the UNCIP resolution this move was envisaged only after the appointment of the Plebiscite Administrator.

Case concerning the Aerial Incident of July 27th, 1955 (Israel v. Bulgaria): On October 16, 1957, Israel filed an application instituting proceedings against the People's Republic of Bulgaria regarding an aerial incident which occurred on July 27, 1955. The application recalled that on that date an aircraft belonging to an Israeli airline company was shot down on Bulgarian territory by the Bulgarian Security Forces, fifty-one passengers and seven crew members being killed. The government of Israel requested the Court to declare Bulgarian responsibility under international law for the damage caused and to determine the amount of compensation.

The Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) held its 26th session in Madrid, June 3–14, 1957, under the chairmanship of S. A. Hasnie. During its discussion of current FAO activities the Council 1) decided to accept the invitation of the United States government to act as host to the fifth World Forestry Congress in 1960; 2) agreed to the proposed procedures for organizing the second session of the joint Food and Agriculture Organization/Economic Commission for Europe Committee on Forestry Working Techniques and the Training of Forest Workers, which was to be held in Moscow in September 1957; 3) established the European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission to promote improvements in inland fisheries and to give advice on the matter; 4) approved certain budgetary amendments to the constitution of the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease; 5) received the report of a mission which had been appointed in 1951 to examine the Moroccan agricultural and food supply situation arising from drought conditions, noted subsequent developments and the intentions of several governments to assist Morocco, and requested the Director-General to keep the situation under review and to take further steps which might be necessary; and 6) requested the Director-General to examine the advisability of establishing a committee on settlement, resettlement, and agrarian reform, as proposed by the government of Israel.

The twelfth annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development was held in Washington, D.C., September 23–26, 1957, under the chairmanship of Miguel Cuaderno, Sr. The meeting included four plenary sessions, two of which were held jointly with the International Monetary Fund, and two meetings of the Joint Procedures Committee.

The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) held its 32d session from September 30 to December 16, 1957. The Council devoted considerable attention to the planning of meetings. Since the sum appropriated by the 1956 Assembly for meetings in 1958 was approximately half of the amount required for carrying out the planned program, the Council approved the convening of only nine meetings and recommended to the next Assembly that budgetary provision should be made to permit additional ones. During its next session the Council would consider the problem of the tendency towards longer meetings and the resulting increase in cost.

The 137th session of the Governing Body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) was held in Geneva from October 29 to November 1, 1957, under the chairmanship of E. Calderon Puig. The Governing Body devoted three sittings to the consideration of matters concerning freedom of association, in connection with which it received from the Director-General a report on the establishment of machinery to determine the facts relating to freedom of association in ILO member states. The report contained proposals to strengthen ILO methods of promoting respect for freedom of association under regular constitutional machinery through factual inquiries and the establishment of independent machinery for the adjustment of disputes. Several members of the Governing Body felt that prior to forming the proposed body the definition of freedom of association would require clarification, while others felt that the tripartite principle should be introduced into the suggested independent commission or that a body representing the Governing Body should be installed between the commission and the Governing Body.

The twelfth annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund was held jointly with the Board of Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Washington D.C., September 23–26, 1957, under the chairmanship of Miguel Cuaderno, Sr. Per Jacobsson, Managing Director, reviewed the activities of the Fund during the previous year. Emphasizing that the Fund's assistance was of a short-term nature and designed to enable countries to adopt and carry out, within a limited period of time, programs to restore stability to their economies, Mr. Jacobsson stated that the Fund was being used to help countries meet emergency needs, ease strain in the balance of payments, meet temporary exchange difficulties, and fulfill stabilization programs. Mr. Jacobsson went on to discuss various problems encountered in connection with the Fund's activities and cited, inter alia, multiple currency practices, Fund liquidity, and, in connection with general aspects of the world economy, inflation, relative values of currencies, and financing for underdeveloped countries.

The Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held its 48th session in Paris from June 3 to 20, 1957, under the chairmanship of Dr. Vittorino Veronese. After approving work plans for carrying out in 1957–1958 two major projects which had been endorsed by the ninth session of the General Conference, the Board allocated 1957–1958 budgets of $839, 209 for the first project, a ten-year plan for the promotion of better cultural understanding between east and west, and $500,000 for the second, a six-year project for scientific research on arid lands. A third major project, concerned with extension of primary education in Latin America, had been approved by the Board at its previous session.

The Executive Committee of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) met in Geneva for its ninth session, September 24 to October 14, 1957, under the presidency of André Viaut. Discussing the International Geophysical Year (IGY), which had taken precedence in WMO activities, the committee approved the report of the working group on the IGY, re-established the group with revised terms of reference, and adopted a resolution on IGY world data centers. In its consideration of the meteorological aspects of the peaceful uses of atomic energy the committee endorsed the existing policy for action and examined the report of a panel of experts which had met in Geneva in December 1956. The committee pointed out the need for members to keep informed on the subject, and suggested that the Secretary-General prepare and distribute consolidated bibliographical lists from information supplied by members of the panel and by other WMO members. The Secretary-General was also authorized to negotiate an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On August 4, 1957, it was reported that the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Abdel Khalig Hassouna, had submitted a note to the member states of the Bandung conference requesting support of Oman. Asserting that Oman was the object of United Kingdom aggression, the note sought to emphasize the gravity of the situation. It was reported on August 8 that the political committee of the Arab League was meeting in Cairo to consider the situation. According to the press, on August 10 the committee heard a report by Sheikh Mohamed el Harithy, director of the Oman Imamatc office in Cairo, who also submitted a memorandum reportedly containing the texts of the message from the United Kingdom government to the Oman tribal chiefs in 1919 and the Muscat-Oman treaty of 1920. On August 12 eight members of the League's sitting committee, Jordan not being represented, constituted themselves the League Council and issued a resolution stating that 1) armed intervention by United Kingdom forces in Oman constituted a flagrant aggression against Oman's independence and sovereignty and the security of its territory; 2) League members should collectively demand an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to deal with the matter and halt the United Kingdom intervention, which was a threat to the peace and security of the Middle East as well as a breach of international law and the UN Charter; and 3) the Arab states must exert urgent efforts with other UN Members to uphold Oman in its just cause.

The fourth session of the Council of the Baghdad Pact was held in Ankara, Turkey, January 27–30, 1958, under the chairmanship of Mr. Adnan Menderes, Prime Minister of Turkey, and was attended by delegations from Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, as well as by an observer delegation from the United States. It was reported that at the opening meeting the delegates from Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Pakistan stressed the need for more economic aid to the pact area, while the United Kingdom and United States speakers expressed the belief that member nations should concentrate on completing economic projects already under way. Mr. Dulles, Secretary of State of the United States, in his opening address pointed out that Congress had authorized the President to use armed forces to assist any nation or group of nations in the Middle East, including the Baghdad Pact nations, that requested assistance against armed aggression by any communist-controlled country. On the second day of the session the Council approved reports of the military, liaison, and countersubversion committees. The report of the military committee recommended a longterm defense building project, which would include a communications system from west Turkey to Pakistan with trunk and lateral highways, harbor and storage facilities at seaports on the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Sea, and civil airports that could be readily converted for military use. In the meeting on January 29 Mr. Dulles announced that, subject to funds being made available by Congress, $10 million would be provided by the United States for the improvement of telephone and radiotelephone links between the capitals of Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, in addition to $8 million already provided for surveys being carried out.

The second part of the ninth ordinary session of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe was held from October 16 to 29, 1957, under the presidency of Mr. Fernand Dehousse.

The Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) held a number of meetings during the period May-December 1956. Following a series of discussions concerning the proposed text of the statutes of the Inter-American Peace Committee as submitted by the Committee on Juridical-Political Matters the Council revised and approved the text on May 9.1 A document dealing with the draft convention on extradition was also submitted by the committee to the Council, which decided to transmit the draft to OAS member states for comment. From July 18 to 22 the Council held a special meeting in Panama City to commemorate the Congress of Panama of 1826.

The seventeenth session of the South Pacific Commission was held under the chairmanship of Mr. C. G. R. McKay, Senior Commissioner for New Zealand, at its headquarters in Noumea from October 19 to November 6, 1957. The Commission decided to concentrate on a limited number of activities, work on projects in active partnership with island administrations, and seek increasing aid from other international organizations and bodies interested in Pacific progress, thus giving effect to the conclusions of the review conference held by its members in Canberra in May 1957 to study its first ten years of progress and to suggest broad lines for its future work. The Commission selected the following specific subjects for concentrated effort in its three main fields of activity: in economic development, fisheries, pests and diseases of plants and animals (especially the rhinoceros beetle), and plant introduction; in health, health education, nutrition and diet, and mosquito-borne diseases; and in social development, literature promotion, education, and aided self-help.

The Council of Ministers of the Southeast Asian Defense Treaty Organization (SEATO) held its fourth annual meeting in Manila from March 11–13, 1958, under the chairmanship of the Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, the Hon. Felixberto M. Serrano. A communiqué issued at the close of the session stated that the Council had reviewed the world situation, with special attention to the treaty area, approved the work of the organization since its meeting in Canberra in 1957, and considered reports by the Council representatives, the military advisers, and the Secretary General.