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Institutional and Political Conditions of Participation of Socialist States in International Organizations: A Polish View

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2009

Wojciech Morawiecki
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The title of this article may promise too much. First, this article will limit itself only to the problems of Socialist states in universal, worldwide organizations, not in all kinds of international organizations, as the title implies. Second, the wording of the title may incorrectly suggest that the unique economic, social, and ideological characteristics of the Socialist system determine the nature of Socialist participation in international organizations. In fact, however, Socialist states act much as other states in their relations with international organizations. Third, the title and content of the article may imply that all Socialist states behave identically in regard to international organizations. It seems necessary, therefore, to emphasize that treating the Socialist states as a group is merely a recognition of the greater community of interests and higher degree of cohesion within the group than between members of the group and states outside it. There remain, however, different viewpoints on some issues among members of the group. Membership in the group may be formal, e.g., participation in a caucusing group, or informal, e.g., sharing in a feeling of responsibility for the welfare of the Socialist world. A formulation of the general attitudes of the Socialist group consists in setting forth policies which result from similar or common economic and social systems, ideology, interdependence, and, last but not least, dangers. In the author's opinion the relevance of establishing and recognizing diese common attitudes despite individual deviations cannot be denied.

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Articles
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International Organization , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , Spring 1968 , pp. 494 - 507
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 1968

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References

1 Morawiecki, Wojciech, “Some Problems Connected with the Organs of International Organizations,” International Organization, Autumn 1965 (Vol. 19, No. 4), p. 928CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 In the author's opinion each statute of a universal international organization should be ratified by a definite number of states belonging to each main group before coming into force.

3 Claude, Inis L. Jr, Swords into Plowshares: The Problems and Progress of International Organization (3rd ed.; London: University of London Press, 1964), p. 78Google Scholar.

4 The Universal Postal Union (UPU) was once the only organization with entirely open membership. This was true until 1947 when the Union became a UN specialized agency. At this time the relevant statute was amended to permit membership only upon the consent of two-thirds of the member states.

5 Claude, Inis L. Jr, “Collective Legitimization as a Political Function of the UN,” International Organization, Summer 1966 (Vol. 20, No. 3), pp. 367–379CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 In 1964 these Socialist states participated in the following international commodity organizations: International Sugar Council—the Soviet Union, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary; International Wheat Council—the Soviet Union and Cuba; International Coffee Council—the Soviet Union and Cuba. For more on this subject see Morawiecki, W., Miedzynarodowe Umowy Surowcowe [international Commodity Agreements] (Warsaw: PIHZ, 1965), p. 140Google Scholar.

7 General Assembly Resolution 1995 (XIX), December 30, 1964.

8 The texts of the Polish notes have been published in Zbior Dokumentow [Collection of Documents] (Warsaw: Polish Institute of International Affairs, 1950) (No. 6), pp. 521–532Google Scholar. Other notifications of withdrawal have been published in the documents of die respective international organizations. For WHO see its Official Records (3rd Executive Board), No. 17, p. 52; (5th Executive Board), No. 25, p. 28; (3rd Assembly), No. 28, pp. 553–555; and (4m Assembly), No. 35, p. 385.

9 The institutional framework in the IMF and the World Bank makes these organizations essentially unacceptable to the Soviet Union and consequently to the other Socialist states. The system of weighted voting in both of these organizations formally gives the decisive votes to four or five Western powers. Only in exceptional situations could a Socialist state expect favorable treatment. Such an exceptional situation has existed for Yugoslavia, which participates in the IMF and the Bank and did so even during the height of the Cold War (1950–1953).

10 Legal aspects of this problem are examined in Morawiecki, W., “Problem of ‘Non-active Membership’ of Poland and Other Socialist States in WHO and UNESCO,” Polish Western Review, 1966 (Vol. 7, No. 1), pp. 74–108Google Scholar.

11 Poland sent observers to the Conference of the Contracting Parties of GATT in 1957, entered into a special relationship with GATT based on a declaration of November 9, 1959, which entered into force on November 16, 1960, and became a regular member of GATT on the basis of a protocol of accession signed on June 30, 1967, and in force as of October 19, 1967.

12 It is noteworthy that formal voting was first replaced by the adoption of resolutions by consensus in the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), the organization formed to promote cooperation between Western and Eastern European states. See Siotis, Jean, “ECE in the Emerging European System,” International Conciliation, 01 1968 (No. 561), p. 10Google Scholar.