It was generally appreciated when the United Nations was created that changes would occur in the international scene and chat over the years these would affect the functioning of the world organization. The UN was indeed constructed for the purpose of dealing with problems of change and for channeling these along peaceful lines. It was expected chat the relationships between the powers would vary, that the membership would grow, and that the issues of peace and security would not be static.

In 1954, just twenty years after first becoming a member, the Soviet Union rejoined the International Labor Organization (ILO). This step was a sharp reversal of the USSR's past policy. The Soviet Union had boycotted ILO since 1937, three years before its initial membership was terminated as a consequence of its expulsion from the League of Nations, and during much of this time it conducted a bitter attack against the agency. The Soviet Union's re-entry may also have marked a turning point for the International Labor Organization. One of the oldest specialized agencies, ILO had developed a tradition of technical work for which it had won wide renown. Some feared that the Soviet Union's re-entry was likely to upset this tradition; others felt that the Organization's wider and more nearly universal membership would provide new strength and vitality. Although the full implications of the USSR's resumed membership in ILO cannot yet be seen, sufficient time has elapsed to warrant a critical examination of Soviet policy in this specialized agency and of the reactions of other states. Perhaps clues can be seen to the motivations for the shift in the USSR's attitude, preliminary estimates made of the success of Soviet policies, and tentative judgments offered about the over-all effects on ILO.

Australia is a nation small and vulnerable enough to need great power guarantees of territorial integrity, yet at the same time strong and stable enough to constitute an asset in any joint undertaking. The quality of being a small power dependent on the support of the great powers Australia shares with the countries of Southeast Asia, and in particular with the Southeast Asian states linked up with the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO). But it is less exposed to immediate dangers, is more modern and industrialized than its near-northern neighbors, and hence is also capable of serving as an independent source of strength and of assuming a role somewhat akin to that of the great powers in SEATO. Australia's membership role in SEATO is, in effect, defined by these two basic conditions.

The second UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, convened in accordance with a resolution1 of the General Assembly, was opened in Geneva on March 16, 1960, under the presidency of Prince Wan Waitha yakon (Thailand), and closed on April 27. Representatives of 88 countries attended. Two questions only were before the Conference: 1) the breadth of the territorial sea; and 2) the breadth of fishery limits. These had been left unsolved by the first Conference, held early in 1958.

On March 30, 1960, the 851st meeting of the Security Council convened to consider a 29-nation request1 that the Council discuss the situation arising out of the largescale killing of unarmedand peaceful demonstrators against racial segregation in the Union of South Africa as a threatto the maintenance of international peace and security. The representative of the Union of South Africa, as well as those of India, Ethiopia, Ghana, Pakistan, Guinea, and Liberia were invited to participate without vote in the proceedings. After the adoption of the agenda, reservations regarding the jurisdiction of the Council with respect to the question before it were expressed by the representatives of the United Kingdom and France, who maintained that nothing in the Charter authorized the UN to intervene in matters essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of a state.

Commission on Human Rights: The sixteenth session of the Commission on Human Rights was held in Geneva from February 29 to March 18, 1960, under the chairmanship of Mr. Mario Amadeo (Argentina). The agenda adopted by the Commission included discussion of advisory services in the field of human rights, the right of everyone to be free from arbitrary arrest, detention, and exile, a declaration on the right of asylum, freedom of information, national advisory committees on human rights, the prevention of discrimination and protection of minorities, communications concerning human rights, and a review of the human rights program along with consideration of the control and limitation of documentation.

Case concerning the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited (Belgium v. Spain): Preliminary objections to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in the case concerning the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company were filed in the Registry by the government of Spain on May 21, 1960, that is, within the time-limit fixed for the filing of the Spanish counter-memorial. In consequence of the filing of the objections, proceedings on the merits of the case were suspended.

The 31st session of the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was held in Rome, June 15–24, 1959. At the onset, the Council was reminded of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the UN Technical Assistance Program under which FAO had received about $60 million for participation in its operations. At present the Program was facing constrictions due to a deterioration of its financial position causing, in turn, curtailments in FAO's part of the program. The Council also was reminded that since its last session the UN Special Fund had commenced its activities and had requested FAO to be the executing agency for five of its projects—the survey of the Volta River flood plain in Ghana, a pilot project on ground-water development in Greece, one on watershed management in Israel, and two in the United Arab Republic: one for draining land, and another for conducting a soil survey. The Council heard reports concerning and discussed the developments of the Freedom-From-Hunger campaign, the control of foot-and-mouth disease, and FAO's joint programs with the UN Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). A report from the Committee on Commodity Problems emphasized the continued growth of surpluses and the unfavorable terms of trade which were causing hardships in agricultural exporting countries. The resolutions passed by the Council pertained to administrative and financial matters, e.g., the scale of contributions, the establishment of a publications revolving fund, and so on.

The sixteen-member Council of the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO), the newest of the twelve specialized agencies of the UN, held its first session in London after its membership had been completed by the Assembly. A second session of the Council was held in London during July 1959, at which the work program, administrative arrangements, and the relationship of the Organization with the other UN agencies were discussed. Among the new proposals made to the Council was one that IMCO should consider the problem of simplifying the voluminous documentation required by international shipping when entering or leaving port. Another aspect of the Council's second session was a debate on technical cooperation with underdeveloped countries, but a full report on IMCO's participation in UN technical assistance programs was not to be considered until the next Council session, scheduled for March 1960.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced on February 16, 1960, a loan of $42 million to Iran for an electric power generation, irrigation, and flood control project on the Dez River. The Bank's loan, which was for a term of 25 years and bore interest of 6frac14 percent with amortization beginning August 1, 1964, was to cover the foreign exchange costs of building the project with a total cost of $83 million.

During its 36th and 37th sessions, held in February and May 1959, respectively, the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) spent considerable time on the preparation of documentation for the forthcoming Assembly. Special attention was paid to the budget estimates for 1960, 1961, and 1962, a review of the basis of assessment, documentation on questions of a constitutional and general policy nature, the policy and program of ICAO for the provision of air navigation facilities and services, ICAO policy on technical assistance, and the future frequency of Assembly sessions. Opinion in the Council was evenly divided on asking the Assembly to vote funds to cover the basic estimates of meetings and activities and to authorize the Council to make, if required, supplementary appropriations up to the amounts indicated in a list of contingent expenditures, as opposed to asking it to vote a budget that would include the contingent expenditures, identified as such, with the proviso that the amounts voted for these expenditures would be available only for the purposes indicated and that assessments for them would be made by the Council if and when necessary. Both alternatives subsequently having been put to the Assembly, the latter body decided to do nothing about the contingent expenditures for meetings, while authorizing the Council to make supplementary appropriations to cover the contingency that the post adjustment for Headquarters would be raised. On the subject of assessments, two tasks were undertaken, one being the drafting of instructions to the Secretary General of ICAO on the preparation of the draft scale of assessments for 1960–1962, and the other being a general review of the basis of assessment, while on the subject of the future frequency of Assembly sessions the Council decided to recommend a major session in 1962 and, if necessary, another session of limited scope either in i960 or in 1961, preferably the latter.

The annual report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1959, was transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on July 9, 1959. In its discussion of the world economy in 1958–1959 the report noted that the year which ended on April 30 had stood out not only because of the marked changes which had occurred in general business activity and in the international flow of funds, but also because important steps had been taken to consolidate the monetary improvements achieved since the war and to strengthen the financial structure of the world economy. Outstanding events had been the following: a sharp upswing of industrial production in the United States, together with indications of renewed expansion in other industrial countries; the increase of more than $3.5 billion in the gold and foreign exchange reserves of western European countries; the adoption in December 1958 of external convertibility by fourteen European countries and the complementary steps taken by fifteen other countries to adjust their exchange controls to the new conditions thus established; and the agreements reached to expand the financial resources of the Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. On the other hand, the experience of many of the primary producing countries had been much less satisfactory, inasmuch as the decline in the prices of many primary products which had begun in 1956 had continued into 1958, and there had been a reduction in the earning capacity of most of these countries, which had created further difficulties in their payments positions and acted as a brake upon their economic development

The report of the Director-General, Dr. Vittorino Veronese, on the activities of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1959 dealt, as usual, with: 1) relations with member states and international organizations; 2) execution of the program; and 3) administrative services. Under the first heading, the Director-General reported that during the year in review the Singapore/British Borneo group associate membership in the Organization had ceased to exist as of December 31, 1959, when Singapore alone had assumed the rights and duties of an associate member, and that relations with the UN, the specialized agencies, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had continued to develop.

The Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) held its 25th session in Geneva, January 19—February 1, 1960, under the chairmanship of Professor E. Aujaleu. At the onset, the Board unanimously recommended that the World Health Assembly adopt a working budget of $18,569,620 for 1961, representing a 10 percent increase over the preceding year, due to the growth of the Organization's activities. The Board also considered a report, based on the recommendations of its Advisory Committee on Medical Research, on the general development of the medical research program; it dealt with such subjects as malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, and insecticide resistance, among others. It recommended that priority be given to the following: 1) services to research, such as the standardization of nomenclature and techniques and equipment to ensure comparable results in different parts of the world; 2) setting up reference centers; and 3) improving the training of research workers and communications among them. Noting these priorities, the Board expressed its satisfaction with the proposed research program for 1960–1961. The Board also considered a UN resolution on the encouragement of international cancer research through awarding prizes for outstanding work in this field; however, on the basis of a study made in connection with the intensification of its medical research program, the Board expressed doubt whether awarding prizes was the most suitable means of encouraging research.

The eighth session of the Ministerial Council of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) was held in Teheran, Iran, from April 28 to 30, 1960. Dr. Manouchehr Eghbal, Prime Minister of Iran, was chairman of the session. In its final communiqué, the Council expressed the hope that the nuclear tests conference would reach a solution providing for the suspension of these tests under adequate international control, and that the ten-nation disarmament conference would also make real progress. It further noted the recent and forthcoming top-level contacts with the government of the Soviet Union and expressed support for the efforts being made to secure the easing of tension. In speeches made to the opening meeting of the Council, Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State Christian Herter of the United States stressed that all discussions with the government of the Soviet Union would be conducted by the Western powers with full regard for the interests of their allies in CENTO and the other regional organizations, and the member countries would be kept informed of such discussions. The Council agreed that the efforts to ease tension should be genuine, being not only expressed in words but demonstrated in deeds as well.

The first part of the twelfth ordinary session of the Consultative Assembly opened on April 25, 1960, with the election of Mr. Per Federspiel (Danish Moderate Liberal) to the Presidency, replacing the late Mr. John Edwards. After the closure of the first sitting, Mr. Jacob Javits, Republican Senator from New York, addressed the group; he emphasized the necessity for the two European economic organizations—the “Six” (European Economic Community) and the “Seven” (European Free Trade Association)—to pursue policies in conformity with the spirit and objectives of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GAIT), adding that the United States was ready to accept participation in the reorganized Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC). Mr. J. O. Krag, Danish Foreign Minister, then presented the report of the Committee of Ministers. He informed the Assembly of the valuable contacts which had been made by the Special Assembly Group with the Group of Four entrusted with the task of drawing up the reorganization of OEEC; that the transfer of the health activities of the Western European Union to the Council had taken place; and that the Assembly's recommendations regarding economic policies had been transmitted to OEEC and other responsible organizations. Other reports were heard, among them one from the Chairman of the Cultural Committee, which drew attention to the proposal to create a European University and a Council for Higher Education and Research; his recommendation secured the Assembly's unanimous approval.

The press reported that the European Parliamentary Assembly, meeting on March 28–April 1, 1960, began its session with the election of Prof. Hans Furler, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the West German Bundestag, to the presidency, succeeding Robert Schuman of France. The voting reflected party alignment that ignored the nationalities of the members, Dr. Furler, candidate of the Democratic Christian group, having defeated Gaetano Martino of Italy, candidate of the Liberal group. The Socialists, the third party in the Parliament, had not presented a candidate. Prior to a debate on economic policy, Dr. Furler took the rostrum to thank Mr. Schuman for his efforts on behalf of the European Communities, as it was he who had started the six-nation federation with his proposal for the combination of French and West German coal and steel production. Dr. Furler then asked the Parliament to establish the common market at a faster pace than that specified in the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which had brought the market into existence. In this he was aided by Walter Hallstein, president of the Administrative Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC), who explained the proposals for acceleration of the common market and urged their support as a defense against any Soviet trade war against the West. The proposals centered around a 30-percent reduction in the internal customs of the six member states by July 1, 1960, as well as a start toward the establishment of a common exterior tariff. The members had reservations against the plan, but expressed general support for it in a resolution which received near-unanimous approval (the exceptions being one negative vote and two abstentions).

At a meeting of senior officials of the seven-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) held in London, February 12–13, 1960, the organization was reported to have chosen Geneva as the site of its headquarters, after the French government had informed it that it could not accept the proposal that Paris be the site, since France was not a member of EFTA. Although EFTA did not officially come into being until May 3, 1960, with the deposition of the seven instruments of ratification with the Swedish government, the preparatory meeting of its Ministerial Council was held in Vienna on March 11–12, devoting itself principally to an examination of the most important problem facing this new organization—namely, its relations with third countries, especially those of the European Economic Community (EEC). The member states declared their readiness to discuss with the EEC members the possible extension to the Six and to other countries, subject to reciprocity, of the 20-percent tariff reduction effective among themselves on July 1, 1960, and reaffirmed the importance of a continuation of European economic cooperation within the framework of the Organization for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), of which they would like to see the United States and Canada become full members. Also in March, EFTA members reportedly received the assurance of the United States government that its approval of a recent decision of EEC, concerning the reduction of its external tariff on July 1, 1960, did not reflect any animosity toward the Association.

Following an investigation resulting from the request by the government of Venezuela that the Council of the Organizationof American States (OAS) ask the Inter-American Peace Committee to look into the flagrant and widespread violations of human rights by the government of the Dominican Republic, the Committee, in a special report, allegedly concurred with the charges, stressing its opinion that international tensions in the Caribbean had increased and would continue to increase, so long as the Dominican Republic persisted in its repressive policies. On the basis of evidence collected during its four-month investigation, the Committee condemned such practices as the denial of free assembly and free speech, arbitrary arrest, cruel and inhuman treatment of political prisoners, and the use of intimidation and terror as political weapons. Despite reports of 1,000 arrests for subversive activities, the Dominican Republic had accounted for only 222 such arrests and had pointed to acts of elemency granted to many of these people; the Committee had, however, been barred from visiting the country. Desirous nevertheless of avoiding any step which might adversely affect the fate of the political prisoners, and in the hope that the Dominican Republic would decree an amnesty on Easter, April 17, the Committee postponed making a pronouncement on the case; instead, it merely issued a general report on April 14 on the relationship between violations of human rights and the political tensions affecting the peace of the Hemisphere. In the later special report the Committee noted that the hope of an amnesty had turned out to be unfounded, and that it had therefore decided to examine all the information available to it, mosdy in the form either of testimony from exiles and other nationals who had recently been in the Dominican Republic or of extensive and reliable press material.

According to the press, the four experts appointed by the Council of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) in January 1960 for the purpose of drawing up plans for a body to succeed OEEC recommended, in a report published on April 20, 1960, the establishment of a new economic organization linking Europe with North America, to be called the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The principal difference between the proposed organization and OEEC, apart from the full membership of the United States and Canada, was to be its emphasis on the promotion of economic growth and development in Asia and Africa. The supreme body of the organization was to be a council of ministers with powers identical to those of the parallel OEEC body; that is, member governments would be expected to conform to its decisions, which were to be taken unanimously. However, any country was to have the right to abstain by disclaiming interest in the subject under discussion, thereby freeing itself of the obligation to carry out the resulting decisions. The daily operations of the organization were to be directed by a secretary-general of wide political prestige, appointed for a five-year term. The report also envisaged the establishment of a preparatory committee to decide which of OEEC's tasks should be continued by the new organization.