The semi-annual report of the Director-General (Kingsley) covering the period from July 1, 1949 to December 31, 1949 stated that during the second half of 1949 the organization had re-established refugees at an average rate of about 27,800 per month. By December 31, 1949 the total had reached 758,923, of whom 68,778 had been repatriated and 690,145 had resettled in new countries. Late in the year, however, severe reductions in the United States and Australian programs intervened, so that in December only 19,043 were resettled. The last six months of 1949 had emphasized programs implementing decisions of the General Council to extend the life of IRO into 1951, establish a series of date lines in order to keep the organization's responsibilities within the limits of the time and funds at its disposal, intensify and broaden the counselling program to obtain as complete and accurate view possible of the task remaining and to budget up to $22,000,000 for use in solving the “hard core” problem.

The 31st session of the Trusteeship Council, comprising its 1225th–1243rd meetings, was held from May 20 to June 29, 1964. At its opening meeting the Council elected Mr. Corner (New Zealand) President and Mr. Doise (France) Vice President.

The fifteenth regular session of the contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was held in Tokyo from October 26 to November 20, 1959. The first three days of the session were devoted to an exchange of views between ministerial representatives of the contracting parties, at the conclusion of which a communiqué was published, whereby the ministers: 1) agreed that, as a result of the action taken in recent months by certain countries to make their currencies convertible for non-residents, there was no longer any justification on balance-of-payments grounds for discriminatory restrictions by countries with export earnings largely in convertible currencies; 2) considered that rapid progress could thenceforth be made in elimination of all quantitative restrictions on imports by countries no longer experiencing balance-of-payments difficulties; 3) laid great emphasis on the importance of making every effort to help less developed countries which had not shared fully in the improvement of economic conditions; 4) made frequent reference to the possibly disruptive effect of a sharp increase in exports of manufactured goods from countries where the cost of production was substantially lower than that prevailing in importing countries; and 5) agreed that regional economic arrangements such as the European Economic Community (EEC) or the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) were required to take full account of the trade interests of other countries and to pursue outward-looking policies in accordance with principles and objectives of GATT.

Compelling as mathematical representations may seem to some interested in the “automaticity” of integration processes, to other empirical theorists they seem anything but obviously relevant. Yet there is a clear trend toward greater use of formal reasoning in both measurement and modeling work on integration processes. Juxtaposing a variety of such integration logics—the mathematical formulae and conceptual abstractions incorporated in assessments of integration progress and regress—should help achieve the major purpose of this article: to introduce students to a variety of possible integration logics, some of their possible interrelationships, and the limitations of some of the simpler ones vis-à-vis current verbal theories of the integration process.

The 34th session of the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was held in Rome, October 17–27, 1960. Noting that this was the fifteenth anniversary of FAO-the first specialized agency to be set up by United Nations governments, the Council urged all nations to increase their active support of the organization and to participate fully in the Freedom-From-Hunger Campaign. In adopting the report of the Committee on Commodity Problems, the Council once again expressed concern at the adverse effects of the worsening in recent years of the ratio of agricultural product prices to those of other goods and at the slow growth of markets for agricultural exports in the industrial countries. The Council was reminded of the Special Fund projects for which FAO already was, or was to become, the executing agency; they included an inter-regional desert locust project and regional projects pertaining to 1) agricultural education in Latin America, and 2) animal health in the Near East. Concerning the report on the Freedom-From-Hunger Campaign, delegates stressed the need for strengthened planning with respect to the projects undertaken within the framework of the Campaign. The Council also heard reports on: the control of foot-and-mouth disease; FAO's joint programs with the UN Children's Emergency Fund; recent developments in the organization of international work in oceanography; and program appraisals, inter alia. Resolutions were adopted on the following subjects: 1) the provision of food surpluses to food-deficient peoples; and 2) administrative and financial matters, including approval for the setting up of a joint policy committee on oceanography by FAO and the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

The twenty-sixth annual report of the Bank for International Settlements was published on June II, 1956. In its survey of the year April 1, 1955—March 31, 1956, the report declared that the most important feature of 1955 was that the effect of an economic boom in North America had been superimposed on the powerful forces for expansion operating in western Europe. There was a definite need, however, for measures which would moderate the boom without weakening the forces tending to promote healthy economic growth. For this reason, direct internal or external controls had not been reapplied by the authorities and trade had been further liberalized, while restrictions on foreign payments had also been further relaxed. There had been a continuation of flexibility in credit policies pursued by the authorities who had employed methods of credit restraint, such as increased interest rates.

Les derniers mois de 1960, les premiers mois de 1961 ont suffi a provoquer, dans l'histoire des Nations Unies, un tournant spectaculaire et peut-etre decisif, bien qu'il soit encore fort difficile de discerner la direction dans laquelle l'Organisation internationale va se trouver engagée. Au moment où ces lignes étaient écrites, les changements d'atmosphere et de perspectives etaient deja impressionnants. La diplomatic sovietique a été le moteur principal de cette evolution, l'affaire du Congo, l'occasion, ou le levier, la position du Secrétariat et de son chef, l'objectif. Car on ne saurait douter que si la personne de M. Dag Hammarskjöld est aussi violemment mise en cause, c'est, à travers elle, l'institution qu'il incarne et à laquelle il avait su conferer un prestige et des moyens d'action sans précédent qui est visée et c'est ce qui fait la gravite de la crise. Aussi n'est-il pas inutile, peut-etre, au moment où, passees les premières protestations, certains commencent à penser que des changements sont inévitables, de se demander ce qui est réellement en jeu. Pour ce faire, force est de se tourner d'abord vers le passé et de considérer comment s'est formée, dans la pratique des Nations Unies, la fonction politique dont ont été charges le Secretariat et surtout son chef. Nous devrons ensuite examiner les attaques dont elle a été l'objet et apprécier les propositions de réforme qui ont été avancées.

The problem of security (“a feeling of safety, whether founded on fact or delusion”, “freedom from danger, care or anxiety”) is inevitably seen in different perspective from Washington and Hanoi, from Canberra and Tokyo, from New Delhi, Singapore, Djakarta and Peking. It is at once global and regional; it assumes different proportions when viewed by the Burman rice coolie and the Japanese factory worker, the Californian industrialist and the Malayan rubber planter, the Melbourne factory worker and the Whitehall administrator.

The Conference of Directors of the International Meteorological Organization, meeting in Washington, D.C., on September 22, 1947, formulated and opened for signature on October 11, 1947, the Convention of the World Meteorological Organization, an intergovernmental body which as a specialized agency was to continue the functions of the semi-official International Meteorological Organization. The Final Act of the Conference suspended the rights of the Director of the Spanish Meteorological Service in accordance with the resolution of the General Assembly of December 12, 1946, and provided for the convening of the first meeting of the Congress of the World Meteorological Organization immediately upon the coming into force of the Convention. The projected organization was to consist of 1) the World Meteorological Congress, which would convene at least every four years to adopt technical regulations covering meteorological practices and procedures, and to determine general policies for the fulfilment of the purposes of the organization; 2) the Executive Committee, which would meet at least once a year to supervise the execution of the resolutions of the Congress, adopt resolutions arising from the recommendations of the technical commissions of the organization, provide technical information and assistance in the field of meteorology, and study matters affecting international meteorology and the operation of meteorological services; 3) regional associations meeting as often as necessary to promote the execution of the resolutions of the Congress and the Executive Committee in their respective regions, to coordinate meteorological and associated activities and to make recommendations to the Congress and the Committee on matters within the purpose of the organization; 4) technical commissions to be established by the Congress to study and make recommendations on any subject within the scope of the organization; and 5) a permanent secretariat. The future status of the organization as a specialized agency was provided for in Article 25 of the Convention.

In these closing decades of the twentieth century modern man is a paradox of extremes. He possesses untold knowledge and wealth, but these have brought no universal end to the indignity of poverty and ignorance. He has conquered space, but on earth he is unable to overcome conflicts and inequities. His mastery of science and technology gives him unprecedented power, but his living world is threatened as at no time since his planetary home first gave him warmth and shelter.

The Bretton Woods institutions were set up long before physical warfare ceased. They are part of a wider undertaking to further international cooperation in the postwar world. Befitting its imposing influence, the United States took a prominent part in this enterprise. The overall design lending coherence to the blueprints for economic collaboration is predominantly of American authorship. It is too early yet to assess the worth of these blueprints and the merits of American policy, but even now it isclear that some of the new institutions may not function as intended. Adverse and unforeseen circumstances may force either drastic revision or failure. According to some observers, the companion agencies established at Bretton ”Woods belong in this category.

The 36th session of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), comprising the 1264th–1303rd meetings, was held in Geneva from July 2, 1963, to August 2, 1963, under the presidency of Mr. A. Patiño (Colombia).

The 43d session of the International Labor Conference was held in Geneva from June 3 to 25, 1959, under the presidency of Mr. E. Dreyer (Danish government delegate). The Conference was attended by over 900 delegates, advisers, and observers from 75 member countries and 15 territories, including the Ministers of Labor from 41 countries.

From the time of the Marshall Plan to the present, American policy toward Europe has been guided simultaneously by two aspirations. One has been to see western Europe unified, the other—stemming from the conviction that the fate of the United States is inextricably tied to that of Europe—has been to create strong bonds among the Atlantic nations. Until quite recently it was believed that these two aspirations stood in a kind of predetermined harmony to each other: the more tightly the European nations would band together, gaining strength and prosperity from their union, the better it would be for all members of the Atlantic Community; and the more intimately Europe was linked with the United States, the more Europe, as a unit, would stand to gain.

Unlike the other countries in what we tend to call “the Soviet bloc,” the Soviet Union benefited financially from the oil crises of the 1970s, for it was a major petroleum and natural gas exporter. The oil crises also benefited the Soviet Union indirectly as a number of radical Third World oil producers acquired money to buy more Soviet arms. Moreover, the windfall increase in petroleum prices was supplemented by a similar windfall increase in the price of the other major Soviet export product, gold. The subsidies that the Soviet Union provided to Eastern Europe did not entail any sacrifice of resources that had been previously committed but required only that it forgo even greater gains. The politics underlying the Soviet decisions were the politics underlying the rapid expansion of export earnings.

The objectives of the founders of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reflected the dual nature of atomic power: it was the embodiment of both the highest hopes and the deepest fears of mankind. First, the Agency's developmental responsibility was to accelerate the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health, and prosperity throughout the world. Second and equally important was to be the Agency's control function: to create a reliable system of safeguards against diversion of fissionable material to military uses in order that the broadening of the peaceful applications of atomic energy should not increase the danger of strengthening the military potential of nations. Within this broad framework, the Agency was to plan and carry out specific projects and activities. This responsibility was largely to be a function of the Board of Governors, whose establishment was an immediate necessity if IAEA was to begin operations.

The following summary covers the activities of the Security Council at its 707th meeting on December 16, 1955, and from its 709th meeting on December 22, 1955, through its 716th meeting on February 6, 1956.

The state of China — a nation of possibly 460,000,000 people — has been a Member of the United Nations since the foundation of that organization in 1945. As a Member, China is legally entitled to representation in United Nations organs unless and until, pursuant to preventive or enforcement action taken by the Security Council, the exercise of the rights and privileges of membership may be suspended by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Security Council. The representatives of China in United Nations organs from 1945 to the present have been accredited by the National Government of the Republic of China. By the end of 1949 control over the mainland of China and over perhaps 450,000,000 people had passed from the National Government to the (communist) “Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China,” the effective control of the National Government having been reduced largely to the island of Formosa.

Listed below is the membership of UN bodies for 1961. Unless otherwise noted, membership expires on December 31 of the year indicated.