In 1961, therefore, we shall do what we have to do. We shall help to build up Europe, which, by confederating its nations, can and must—for the sake of mankind—become the greatest potential economic, military, and cultural power that has ever existed. We shall help this assembled Europe and its daughter America to reorganize their alliance to better defend the free world and to act together in all parts of the earth.

The established nation-state is in full retreat in Europe while it is advancing voraciously in Africa and Asia. Integration among discrete political units is a historical fact in Europe, but disintegration seems to be the dominant motif elsewhere. Cannot the example of successful integration in Europe be imitated? Could not the techniques of international and supranational cooperation developed in Luxembourg, Paris, and Brussels be put to use in Accra, Bangkok, and Cairo, as well as on the East River in New York? Or, in a different perspective, will not the progress of unity in Europe inevitably have its integrating repercussions in other regions and at the level of the United Nations even without efforts at conscious imitation?

The Soviet attack on the United Nations during the Fifteenth General Assembly, along with the Congo operation, has served to dramatize the emergence of the World Organization as a far-flung administrative instrumentality. Initially organized primarily to manage meetings and to provide clearing-house functions, the UN Secretariat has progressively taken on a wide variety of “action research” projects both in New York and in the regional economic commissions. More important still, it has become engaged in a complex congeries of field programs which now absorb roughly half the time of its professional personnel. Not only does it help to plan economic, social, and technical programs of increasing magnitude, but it undertakes to implement such programs around the globe—often in cooperation with one or more of the specialized agencies. Certain of these programs, e.g., the Special Fund and OPEX (Operational, Executive, and Administrative Personnel), owe their design in large part to ideas originating within the UN bureaucracy: spurred by the Secretary-General's leadership the staff has dared to improvise and to innovate as the political climate has permitted.

The permanent neutrality of Austria is not rooted in ancient traditions as is its model, the permanent neutrality of Switzerland. It was established as late as 1955 and may, therefore, give rise to the question of why, in an age of collective self-defense, such a seemingly outdated decision was taken.

The second part of the fifteenth session of the General Assembly met at UN Headquarters from March 7 through April 21, 1961, when it was adjourned.1 Of the 90 agenda items before the fifteenth session, approximately 35 not taken up during the first part of the session were considered during the second part.

The Palestine Question: Letter dated 1 April 1961 from the Permanent Representative of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan addressed to the President of the Security Council

Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East: The seventeenth session of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) was held in New Delhi, India, from March 8 to 22, 1961.1 In addition to delegates from member countries there were observers present from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Turkey, the United Arab Republic, Yugoslavia, and West Germany, as well as from the United Nations specialized agencies and nineteen nongovernmental organizations. The main topics under consideration at the session were 1) the use of resources released through disarmament, 2) possible adverse effects on Asia of European economic groupings, and 3) the establishment of a regional petroleum institute. The question of fluctuations in commodity prices and the need for increased regional economic cooperation were also discussed. In presenting the report of the session, which was later approved, Mr. Sashichiro Matusui of Japan, the chairman of the drafting committee, noted that the Commission had heard statements by several delegates on the credentials of the delegation of Laos. The delegate of the Soviet Union, in particular, questioned the validity of the credentials of the delegation of King Savang Vatthana and contended that the delegation did not represent the “legal government” of Prince Souvanna Phouma. However, the committee examining the credentials of the Laotian delegation had found them in order.

Case concerning the Northern Cameroons (Cameroun v. United Kingdom): On May 30, 1961, the government of the Republic of Cameroun filed in the Registry of the Court an application instituting proceedings against the United Kingdom.1 The applicant alleged that the United Kingdom had failed to respect certain obligations of the Trusteeship Agreement for the Territory of the Cameroons under British Administration of December 13, 1946. The application stated specifically: 1) that the Northern Cameroons had not been administered as a separate territory within an administrative union, but as an integral part of Nigeria; 2) that the objectives set forth in article 6 of the trusteeship agreement—the development of free political institutions and an increasing share for the inhabitants in the administrative services, as well as their participation in advisory and legislative bodies and in the government of the territory—had not been attained; 3) that the agreement did not authorize the administering power to govern the territory as two separate parts evolving differently politically; 4) that, with respect to General Assembly Resolution 1473 (XIV) of December 12, 1959, (a) provisions relating to the separation of the administration of the Northern Cameroons from that of Nigeria, had not been followed, and (b) conditions laid down for the drawing up of electoral lists had been interpreted in a discriminatory manner; and 5) that the acts of the local authorities in the period preceding the plebiscite authorized by the afore-mentioned resolution and during the subsequent election involved consequences in conflict with the trusteeship agreement.

The second session of the Assembly of the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) was held in London from April 5–14, 1961. Mr. W. L. de Vries, Director-General of Shipping in the Netherlands Ministry of Transport, was elected President of the session and Mr. Ove Nielson, Secretary-General of IMCO, acted as secretary. The Assembly elected Argentina, Australia, India, and the Soviet Union to fill out the sixteen-member Council on which Belgium, Canada, France, West Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States were already represented. The Assembly: 1) established a Credentials Committee consisting of Canada, Japan, Liberia, Poland, and Turkey; 2) adopted a budget for 1962–1963 of $892,-350; 3) approved Mauritania's application for membership by a two-thirds vote following the rule that non-members of the United Nations had to be approved by such a vote after recommendation by the Council; and 4) in view of the advisory opinion of June 8, 1960, of the International Court of Justice to the effect that the Maritime Safety Committee was improperly constituted, dissolved the committee and elected Argentina, Canada, France, West Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Liberia, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States to the reconstituted committee. The Assembly during its second session also approved an expanded work program submitted by the IMCO Council including new duties connected with international travel and transport, with special reference to the simplification of ship's papers. The Assembly asked IMCO to study the arrangements for the maintenance of certain light beacons used for navigation at the southern end of the Red Sea which were being maintained by the United Kingdom with the help of the Netherlands. Also under consideration was a new convention on the safety of life at sea submitted to the Assembly by a Conference on Safety of Life at Sea and containing a number of recommendations to IMCO on studies relating to such matters as ship construction, navigation, and other technical subjects on safety at sea. The Assembly decided that in conjunction with United Nations programs of technical cooperation the UN should be informed that IMCO was in a position to provide advice and guidance on technical matters affecting shipping engaged in international trade.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development participated in several loans for electric power development during the late winter and spring of 1961. 1) On February 23, 1961, the Bank announced a loan of $30 million for the expansion of electric generating and transmission facilities in Yugoslavia. The loan was to help finance die construction of a 216,000-kilowatt hydroelectric plant in the Velebit mountains near Senj on the Adriatic coast and the installation of 790 miles of high voltage transmission lines to improve the country-wide electric power network. Six private commercial banks participated in the loan, which was for a term of 25 years and was to bear interest of 5¾ percent, with amortization to begin March 1, 1965. 2) The Bank also made a loan to the Japanese Development Bank that in turn was to re-lend the proceeds to the Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc., for the expansion of electric generating capacity on the island of Kyushu. The loan, announced on March 16, 1961, was to assist in financing the construction of a 156,000-kilowatt thermal power plant at Kokura in northern Kyushu, one of the most heavily industrialized areas in Japan. It was for a term of twenty years and bore interest of 5¾ percent, with amortization to begin September 1, 1962. The International Bank had previously lent $11.2 million in 1953 for the installation of an initial 75,000-kilowatt unit in the Karita thermal power station to expand the Kyushu company's power facilities. 3) Another loan for electric power expansion was made known on March 29, 1961, when the Bank announced that it had lent $8.4 million to the United Kingdom Protectorate of Uganda for the extension of the electric power transmission and distribution systems of the Uganda Electricity Board. The loan, guaranteed by the United Kingdom, was for a term of twenty years and bore interest of 5¾ percent, with amortization to begin June 1, 1964. Fourteen banks in the United States, Belgium, and the Netherlands participated in the loan, which was to meet the cost of imported goods and services for the Electricity Board's $14 million development program. 4) On May 12, 1961, the Bank announced a loan of $22 million for the expansion of hydroelectric installations to supply power to the metropolitan area of Medellin, an important manufacturing center in Colombia. The loan was made to the Empresas Publicas de Medellin, an autonomous public enterprise, and was to provide for the addition of 138,000 kilowatts of new capacity to the system already servicing the area and for the extension of transmission and distribution facilities. Empresas was to finance local currency costs from its own resources. The Bank had already loaned $12 million to Empresas in 1959 for the first stage of its electricity project. Four commercial banks participated in the loan, which was for a term of 25 years, bore interest at 5¾ percent, and was scheduled to begin amortization in March 1966.

The 40th session of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) consisted of twelve meetings held on April 27 and May 24 and between June 6 and 22, 1960. The Council examined the secretariat's draft of the preliminary study on supersonic aircraft and decided that the study should be issued on the responsibility of the ICAO Secretary-General, with suggestions made by representatives to the Council to be taken into account. The Council considered the reports of a working group on an investigation of major deficiencies in air navigation facilities and services on the main international air routes through Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Southeast Europe and the Middle East, and the Caribbean and south America. As recommended by the group, it approved for further investigation the following problems: 1) the lack of adequate flight testing of radio-navigation aids in all these areas; 2) the shortage of trained personnel in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, and 3) the lack of proper transmitting and receiving facilities in Burma. The Council further decided that the machinery for promoting the implementation of regional plans should take the form of a standing group with a permanent membership of five—the President of the Council (chairman), the President of the Air Navigation Commission, and the chairmen of the Air Transport, Joint Support, and Finance Committees—and a floating membership to be selected on an ad hoc basis by the President of the Council to act when needed after secretariat efforts had failed in the implementation of regional plans.

It was announced on May 1, 1961, that the government of Honduras had entered into a stand-by agreement with the International Monetary Fund designed to support the Honduran government in its effort to strengthen its foreign payments position, while maintaining the freedom and flexibility of its foreign exchange system. The agreement authorized drawings equivalent to $7.5 million from the Fund over the following twelve months. On May 17, 1961, the Fund arranged a one-year standby agreement for the government of Brazil for $160 million and rescheduled the payments to be made by that country to the Fund against previous drawings totaling $140 million. The Fund's financial assistance to Brazil was to support a broad financial program of fiscal, credit, trade, and exchange measures designed to combat inflation and to achieve balance of payments equilibrium within the framework of a free and simplified exchange system. The arrangement with the Fund was to be supplemented by additional credits from other sources and by renegotiation of maturities on Brazil's medium-term foreign indebtedness. The Fund also announced that on April 27, 1961, it had agreed to a drawing by the government of Australia of $175 million in currencies held by the Fund. At the same time it entered into a stand-by arrangement with the Australian government authorizing additional drawings up to $100 million over the following twelve months to support the government's efforts to improve its foreign payments position by means of fiscal, monetary, and other measures.

The ninth session of the Ministerial Council of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) was held in Ankara, Turkey, April 27–28, 1961, under the chairmanship of Mr. Selim Sarper, Foreign Minister of Turkey. The session opened with a speech by General Gursel, the Turkish head of state, in which he said that the alliance had achieved successful results in the fields of security, economic development, and cultural activities. According to the press, there was a controversy as to the primary role of the alliance, with Mr. Hussein Ghods Nakhai, the Iranian Foreign Minister, referring to CENTO as an economic and defensive organization, in that order, while Mr. Manzoor Quadir, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, emphasized the defense aspect of the organization by stating that CENTO had to concern itself with developing the military as well as the economic strength of the area. Mr. M. O. A. Baig, retiring Secretary-General of the organization, was said to have asserted in his report to the session that only the presence of the United States gave meaning and validity to any “free world” defense alliance, CENTO included, even though the United States was not a full member of the organization. United States Secretary of State Dean Rusk, in addressing the session, pledged the continued cooperation of his country for the mutual security of the area.

The Ministerial Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held its spring ministerial meeting in Oslo, Norway, from May 8 to 10, 1961, under the chairmanship of the new Secretary-General of NATO, Mr. Dirk U. Stikker. United States Secretary of State Dean Rusk announced to the assembled Ministers of the fifteen-member alliance that his government was prepared, in pursuance of the plan announced to the NATO Council by his predecessor, Mr. Christian A. Herter, to commit five Polaris nuclear missile submarines to forces assigned to NATO. The Herter plan had been contingent upon agreement by the European members to purchase an additional 100 nuclear missiles for NATO, but according to the press, this part of the proposal was understood to have been abandoned because of European objections to the cost of such an undertaking. The submarines were to be assigned to the command of Vice-Admiral George W. Anderson, who held the dual role of Commander of the United States Sixth Fleet, based in Naples, and of the NATO Strike Force South, it was also made known. Ultimate control of the eighty Polaris nuclear warheads would, however, revert to the President of the United States. A plan for the Permanent Council of the treaty powers to review the alliance's total military situation as a matter of high urgency was tied to Secretary Rusk's announcement on the Polaris submarines. The United States Secretary of State, in addressing the Council, gave his government's views on the situation in Cuba, the Congo, Laos, and South Vietnam and stated that the United States would consider it a violation of the legal situation in Berlin if the Soviet Union signed a peace treaty with East Germany. Should the Soviet Union proceed to sign such a peace treaty the allies would insist on continued Western rights of access to West Berlin and would make it clear that they were prepared to resist encroachment on their position, Mr. Rusk declared.

The 21st session of the South Pacific Commission was held at Commission headquarters in Nouméa, New Caledonia, from October 13 to 25, 1960. It was attended by representatives from the Commission's six member nations—Australia, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States; the chairman was Mr. Dudley McCarthy, senior commissioner for Australia. The meeting reviewed progress made by the Commission in all its fields of work during the year under consideration and approved plans for its 1961 program.

The 31st annual report of the Bank for International Settlements, covering the financial year from April 1, 1960, to March 31, 1961, was submitted to the annual general meeting of the Bank held in Basle on June 12, 1961. In his introduction, the General Manager of the Bank, Mr. Guillaume Guindey, reported that the net profit for the 31St financial year had amounted to 14,974,105 gold francs, compared with 15,314,716 gold francs for the preceding year. In view of the results for the financial year 1960–61, the Board of Directors of the Bank had recommended an extraordinary distribution of 35 gold francs per share, in addition to the regular dividend of 37·50 gold francs per share; thus the total distribution for this year would amount to 72·50 gold francs, payable in Swiss francs in the amount of 103·60 Swiss francs per share.

The eighteenth session of the contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was held in Geneva from May 14 to 19, 1961, under the chairmanship of Mr. W. P. H. van Oorschot of the Netherlands. It was announced at the session that the first phase of the 1960–61 Tariff Conference, which was largely concerned with negotiations with the European Economic Community (EEC), had been terminated and that the general round of tariff negotiations would open on May 29, 1961. The Tariffs Negotiations Committee was scheduled to meet that same day and reconstitute itself in order to meet the new circumstances and to make the necessary arrangements for the general negotiations.

The fourteenth session of the Council of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM) was held in Geneva from May 11 to 17, 1961.1 The Spanish Minister Plenipotentiary, D. José Manuel Aniel-Quiroga, permanent delegate to the European office of the United Nations, was elected by the Council to chair the session. During the first day of the session the United Kingdom was unanimously admitted to membership in ICEM, bringing total membership to 30 countries.