During September and October 1958 the Permanent Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) discussed the question of Cyprus. On September 24, the Council heard M. Paul-Henri Spaak, Secretary-General of NATO, describe his visit on September 23 to Athens, where he had discussed problems connected with Cyprus with the Greek Prime Minister. His consultation had centered on a United Kingdom plan whereby there would be a seven-year partnership in Cyprus to provide a quiet atmosphere and proper conditions under which to work out a final solution; the plan had received the support of the Turks but not of the Greeks. M. Spaak proposed to the Council the calling of a conference in which the Greek, Turkish, and United Kingdom governments and representatives of the Greek Cypriot and Tyrkish Cypriot communities would take part.

A communiqué issued by the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on May 7, 1959, expressed the Council's opinion that, on the eve of the Geneva conference of foreign ministers, the Soviet Union appeared to be misinterpreting western intentions in proceeding with the orderly development of their program for modernizing the forces of the alliance. The Council noted further that these programs for improving NATO defences were the consequence of long established NATO policies which were arrived at through joint decisions of NATO countries; moreover, they had been in the process of implementation for over two years, and therefore they could not conceivably be designed, as alleged by the Soviet Union, to prejudice the success of the forthcoming meeting in Geneva.

According to press reports, the foreign ministers of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, east Germany, Poland, Rumania, and the Soviet Union met in Warsaw with the deputy foreign ministers of Hungary and the People's Republic of China on April 27–28, 1959. Although for formal and legal reasons the Chinese minister had the status of an observer, he nevertheless took a full part in the bloc's determination of its European policy. The conference was said to have been the first occasion on which the Soviet Union had called together the other members of the Pact to brief and consult with them on its policy before a four-power meeting.

It was reported on July 14, 1959, that the Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), meeting in Washington, D. C., had voted unanimously to call together immediately the foreign ministers of the 21 American republics.

On January 13, 1958, a special committee which had been created to draw up the general policy to be followed in carrying out a proposed fellowship program of the Organization of American States (OAS), in addition to the regular fellowships already offered by the organization and the individual governments, presented a report and draft resolution to the Council for consideration. In accordance with the temporary provision of a resolution on the general policy for the fellowship program approved by the Council of OAS on January 15, Secretary-General Mora prepared the regulations for the award and administration of the fellowships and presented them to the Council at a meeting held on June 4, 1958. At that time it was agreed that the representatives on the Council would forward the regulations to their governments and that they would also be transmitted to the Committee on the Fellowship Program for its information. The regulations stated that the Secretary-General of OAS should be assisted in the administration of the program by the Executive Director of Technical Cooperation, the Technical Secretary, and an Advisory Board. According to the regulations, an OAS fellowship was one to be granted by the organization, after consideration of the applicant's study plans, to a person with advanced training in the branch of knowledge in which he had specialized, so that he might have an opportunity to study abroad. The regulations included sections on the selection of candidates and the processing of applications, and forfeiture, renunciation, and cancellation of fellowships.

Additional measures to increase the numbers of scientists and engineers in European countries were agreed upon by the Council of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) in approving the second annual program of the organization's Office for Scientific and Technical Personnel. Potential funds at the disposal of the Office were increased to approximately $1,350,000 in order to put this program into effect. The new program was to comprise courses, seminars, conferences, and improved methods of instruction and experiment which would help the spread of scientific and technological knowledge and new training policies throughout Europe.

The eighteenth session of the South Pacific Commission was held at Commission headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia, from September 26 to October 12, 1958. At the session the Commission placed emphasis on the need for an all-out campaign against the rhinoceros beetle, which had become a major threat to the economy of the South Pacific. The Commission decided that a meeting of its rhinoceros beetle advisory committee of leading Pacific entomologists would be held in Suva from February 16 to 20, 1959, to review results of present campaigns against the beetle, and to plan further action. The Commission also made a further grant of £3,000 for 1959 to assist the investigation being carried out on its behalf by the Institute of Scientific Research in Madagascar.

The 29th annual report of the Bank for International Settlements, covering the financial year from April 1, 1958, to March 31, 1959, was submitted to the annual general meeting of the Bank held at Basle on June 8, 1959. In his introduction to the report, the General Manager of the Bank, Mr. Guillaume Guindey, announced a net profit amounting to 9,550,894 gold francs at the close of the financial year, compared with 9,317,738 gold francs for the preceding year. Declaration of a dividend of 6 percent was again recommended, involving the distribution of 7,500,000 gold francs, so that the sum of 9,279,928 gold francs would be carried forward.

The fifth meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) Council was held in Wellington from April 8 to 10, 1959, under the chairmanship of the New Zealand Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs, the Right Hon. Walter Nash. The Council discussed reports and recommendations by the Council representatives, the military advisers, and the Secretary-General, and in the light of them gave directions with regard to the activities of the organization in the coming year. The communique issued at the close of the meeting noted that despite the continuing possibility of open aggression, the principal threat to the security and independence of the treaty area was now being presented in more indirect forms. The Council members were aware of the opportunities afforded for subversive activities in situations where basic problems of hunger, lack of opportunity, and underdevelopment remained unsolved. The Council stated that SEATO had done much to publicize and expose throughout the treaty area the objectives toward which subversion was directed and the methods by which it operated, and it agreed that during the coming year arrangements should be made for the further strengthening of this aspect of SEATO's work. For example, it was proposed that a meeting of experts on counter-subversion should be held in Pakistan. The Council members recognized the need for continuing action in the economic and social spheres.

The fourteenth regular session of the contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was held in Geneva from May 11 to 30, 1959. Mr. W. C. M. Beale (United States) spoke at the opening meeting to urge west European countries to end discrimination against dollar imports. At the same meeting it was decided to admit Spain as an observer. Mr. Fernando Garcia-Oldini of Chile, chairman of GATT, referred in his opening address to the brighter prospects for international trade, as the threat of economic recession began to fade.

The fourth South Pacific Conference was held at Rabaul, New Britain, in the territory of Papua and New Guinea, from April 20 to May 13, 1959. Sixty-five delegates and advisers attended from sixteen Pacific territories and the Kingdom of Tonga. The Conference was divided into two standing committees, one dealing with social and health questions, and the other with matters affecting the economic welfare of the island peoples. For the second time in the history of the conferences, the delegates themselves elected the chairman and vice-chairman of each committee, but for the first time a woman was elected chairman of one of them, i.e., the social committee. The Conference proceedings were governed by a general committee, on which each of the six governments forming the membership of the South Pacific Commission was represented by a member of a territorial delegation; the chairman of the Conference, Mr. J. R. Halligan, Australia's Senior Commissioner on the South Pacific Commission, was the only European member of the general committee.

The ninth meeting of the International Whaling Commission was held in London in June 1957. Commissioners from all the members were present, with the exception of Panama and Canada. The latter, however, was represented by an observer, while observers were also present from Argentina, Italy, and Portugal, and from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

The Assembly of Western European Union (WEU) held the second part of its fourth session in Paris from December 17 to 20, 1958, under the presidency of Sir James Hutchison (British Conservative). In the course of the session, the Assembly was addressed by the Foreign Ministers of Belgium, the German Federal Republic, and the Netherlands, by the United Kingdom Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, by the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (M. Spaak), and by the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (General Norstad). The Supreme Commander considered that if a demilitarized zone was established in Europe, as suggested in the Rapacki Plan, his task would become impossible; M. Spaak also had little faith in a denuclearized zone, in an era of intercontinental missiles.

The Assembly of Western European Union (WEU) opened its fifth ordinary session in the House of Europe on June 15, 1959. Mr. Vittorio Badini Confalonieri (Italian Liberal) was elected President, and the following were elected Vice-Presidents: Mr. Joseph Bech (Luxembourg Social Christian), Dame Florence Horsbrugh (British Conservative), Mr. J. J. R. Schmal (Dutch Historical Christian), Mr. Carlo Schmid (German Socialist), Mr. Georges Bohy (Belgium Socialist), and Mr. Robert Abdesselam (Algerian).

The tenth annual meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic Development in South and Southeast Asia was held in Seattle, Washington, November 10–13, 1958. At the meeting the committee's seventh annual report was adopted. It was reported that President Eisenhower, who attended the conference, outlined a five point plan for economic growth which called for expanded international trade; more technical assistance; more private investment; public loans on normal bankable terms; and development financing to provide to the borrower flexibility regarding terms of repayment. Mr. Eisenhower observed that the Development Loan Fund established in 1957 by the United States Congress had given more than half its loans to the Colombo Plan countries. Additions to the fund were needed since Colombo Plan nations had requested further loans for projects which exceeded the resources of the fund. He suggested that progress would be hastened if other more developed countries were to act to meet these growing needs and said that the United States would welcome the contributions of other countries to this end. He spoke of the possibility of creating an international development association for this purpose, as an affiliate of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. During the committee's session, it was pointed out by some participants that less developed countries should prepare a satisfactory climate, with investment safeguards, if large private investments were to be expected. Several representatives from less developed areas concurred in this position, referring to steps already taken in this direction. It was decided to hold the next annual meeting of the committee in Indonesia.

The most recent report by the Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) opened with a survey of developments in the structure and pattern of international trade. After exceeding $100 billion, an all-time high, in 1957, the value of world exports had dropped sharply, by about 6 percent, in the first half of 1958, but had recovered nearly half of that loss in the second half of that year. If the effect of price movements was eliminated, on die other hand, the volume (as differentiated from the value) of world exports in the second half of 1958 established a new all-time record, even exceeding, if only by a fraction, the preceding peak which was reached in the second half of 1957. In the movements of international trade and of world output, the role played by the United States had continued to be predominant, although the United States was steadily losing in relative importance in world production, because output elsewhere was rising faster. Although the unsettled economic conditions, especially in North America, and the slowing down of economic growth elsewhere during the two years under consideration had turned out, after the event, to be less disastrous in their general effect upon world production and world trade than might have been expected, it was true that the decline in the share that exports from die nonindustrial to the industrial areas represented in the world total continued further. The relatively well maintained value of imports, moreover, together with a relatively falling value of exports, had given rise in recent years to a growing adverse balance on merchandise account for the nonindustrial areas. Their total import surplus continued at, and even slightly increased beyond, the impressive level of 1957—in fact nearly reaching $4 billion—although the various groups of countries within this category shared very unevenly in this total.

The ninth session of the Council of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM) met in Geneva, November 13–19, 1958. At the opening meeting of the Council the government of Panama was welcomed as the 28th member of ICEM. On November 14, the Council approved two pilot projects for developing services to assist migrants and the governments of emigration and immigration countries. One was the establishment of an international vocational training center at Cattolica vocational training center at Cattolica in Italy to train workers for emigration to overseas immigration countries, as well as for intra-European emigration. The second project was the organization of a training course for immigration and placement officers to be set up by migration officials of the Canadian government; the task of this course was to give theoretical and practical training to officials of various immigration countries to fit them for selection, counselling, and placement of immigrants. At the same meeting, the Council decided to make fresh appeals for further financial contributions from its member governments to pay for transport of European refugees from the Far East to countries of asylum.

The eighteenth plenary meeting of the International Cotton Advisory Committee was held in Washington, May 14–22, 1959. Governments from 34 countries were represented as members and 24 attended as observers; representatives from ten international organizations were also in attendance. Eight resolutions were adopted by the plenary meeting, the first four of which were concerned with budgetary matters. The fifth dealt with the future work program and instructed the secretariat to prepare a statement on government regulations on cotton and a report on harsh short staple cotton; the secretariat was also instructed to keep under review the extra-long staple cotton situation, to investigate the possibility of a similar survey on long staple cottons, and to provide as much information as possible on the effect of competition from the Soviet Union, communist China, and eastern Europe on world markets for cotton and cotton textiles. The sixth resolution drew attention to the present surplus situation of extra-long staples and indicated the desirability of convening a special meeting to examine the problems of this commodity with attention to production plans and policies, price and export policies, and steps needed to encourage consumption.