The notes of protest which the United States, the United Kingdom, and France sent to the Danube Commission governments on November 15, 1949, were answered by the Soviet Union on March 9, 1950, and by Bulgaria on March 28, 1950. Both governments rejected the western protests, the Soviet note commenting that the Danube Commission's Convention of August 18, 1948, eliminated the injuristices of previous international waterways concepts and established the jurisdiction of the riparian states. The note added that the Soviet government would not consider the protests registered by Belgium, Italy and Greece since they were not members of the Danube River Commission under the previous navigational treaty of 1921.

In the short span of a year, from the Messina Conference held on June 1 and 2, 1955, by the foreign ministers of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, to the series of meetings begun in Brussels on June 26, 1956, among the same governments, the idea of economic unification of these six countries has made a striking advance toward its realization. The heads of the delegations to the Intergovernmental Committee established by the Messina Conference produced a report in which they jointly and unanimously proposed to start drafting a treaty (or two treaties) to establish a “common market” and an atomic community (Euratom) along the lines of their report. The governments are not yet formally committed to accept all the recommendations of this report; but they agreed at the Venice Conference on May 29, 1956, to take it as a basis for the negotiation of the treaty. This document is therefore to be regarded as much more than another expert opinion on the desirability or the feasibility of economic integration. It outlines the detailed objectives to be reached and contains a relatively precise timetable hammered out through months of arduous discussions which took the better part of the summer and of the fall of 1955 in the Belgian capital. Euratom and the “common market” are of course closely interrelated political issues. Technically, however, they are quite distinct and only the common market is examined in this paper.

The European Parliamentary Assembly met in ordinary session from May 12 to 14, 1959, at Strasbourg. One of the principal points on the agenda was the proposed creation of a European University. While it was admitted that, for the time being, it was essential for the proposed institute to concentrate on nuclear and technical research, most of the speakers agreed that the European University should progressively be extended to include other branches of learning such as European law. Furthermore, the University should not be limited to Six-Power Europe but should be open to professors and students from all the countries of Kurope. In a resolution adopted at the close of the discussion, the Assembly requested the executives of the three Communities and the Councils of Ministers to unite their efforts to create a European University destined to serve the interests of the European Communities and their overseas countries and territories, through the development of scientific and technical research, the study of social and economic science, philosophy, and history, and the elaboration and development of Community law.

The twenty meetings of the 35th session of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) were held between November 12 and December 17, 1958, except for the first meeting which was called during the committee phase on September 25. At its last meeting the Council unanimously decided to appoint Mr. R. M. McDonnell of Canada, Secretary General of ICAO to succeed Carl Ljungberg of Sweden, who had served in that post for more than seven years. Additional elections and appointments, inter alia, included: W. G. Algar of Ireland, First Vice- President of the Council for 1958–1959; Col. E. Chagas of Brazil, Second Vice-President; Henry Soderberg of Sweden, Third Vice-President; J. R. Belcher of Canada, Chairman of the Finance Committee.

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 Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) Council held its eighth meeting in Paris from April 8 to 10, 1963, under the chairmanship of Mr. Maurice Couve de Murville, Minister of Foreign Affairs of France. According to the communiqué released at the close of the meeting, the Council discussed the situation in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Ministers noted that considerable progress had been achieved in the fight against subversion in Vietnam and that one might expect a new improvement in the situation thanks to the efforts made by the Vietnamese government. It was hoped that South Vietnam, with the support given to it, would be in a position to maintain its advance toward internal stability and international security. The Council reiterated its support for a neutral and independent Laos and took note of the deployment of troops from some member countries in Thailand in May 1962.

The resumed 26th session of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) was held in New York on October 23 and December 10 and 11, 1958, under the presidency of Mr. Davidson (Canada). A draft resolution by which ECOSOC would decide to enable the International Atomic Energy Agency to become a member of the Technical Assistance Board and to participate in the Expanded Program of Technical Assistance was adopted unanimously at the 1045th meeting. The Council elected the members of the Governing Council of the Special Fund: elected as members representing the economically more advanced countries were Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States; and representing the less-developed countries were Argentina, Chile, Ghana, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the United Arab Republic, and Yugoslavia. Brazil was elected as a member of the Technical Assistance Committee to fill the vacancy resulting from the election of Venezuela to ECOSOC. At its 1046th meeting the Council elected the following seven members of the Council Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations for 1959: China, Costa Rica, France, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Council unanimously confirmed the names of persons nominated by governments to represent them on the functional commissions of ECOSOC. The delegate of France announced that his country had been unable to take advantage of the extended time-limit for the submission of lists of the territories it wished to be admitted as associate members of the Economic Commission for Africa. The Council unanimously adopted a resolution designed to make the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies applicable to the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization.

The fifth session of the WHO Executive Board was held in Geneva from January 16 to February 2, 1950. Long-range plans for WHO operations were outlined, and the Board recommended that the 1951 program should continue at the same general level, with primary emphasis on strengthening national health administrations and on control work against malaria, tuberculosis, and venereal disease. Development of services in the fields of maternal and child health, mental health, nutrition, sanitation, health statistics and medical training facilities would also be stressed.

The present critical stage of inter-American relations offers a timely occasion for an inquiring glance at the Organization of American States (OAS). For more than half a century—and particularly during the last two decades—the United States has increasingly adapted its policy toward Latin America to the principles and procedures of the Organization of American States, confident that such an approach would best serve our long-range objectives in the hemisphere. Yet the varying responses which the United States has gained from the regional agency when problems of high importance have been submitted to it constitute one of the most confusing aspects of our hemisphere relations. The last few years have provided a striking illustration of this point.

A summary of its activities in 1950 was released by the Organization for European Economic Cooperation in January 1951. During the first two years of its establishment, the report stated, OEEC had been essentially an instrument for the distribution of United States aid but then became increasingly an instrument of cooperation for the solution of European economic problems. In two years, European production had been restored, trade had almost entirely recovered and international financial stability was achieved. The establishment of a European Payments Union was considered one of the main achievements of OEEC during 1950.

The twelfth annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund was held jointly with the Board of Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Washington D.C., September 23–26, 1957, under the chairmanship of Miguel Cuaderno, Sr. Per Jacobsson, Managing Director, reviewed the activities of the Fund during the previous year. Emphasizing that the Fund's assistance was of a short-term nature and designed to enable countries to adopt and carry out, within a limited period of time, programs to restore stability to their economies, Mr. Jacobsson stated that the Fund was being used to help countries meet emergency needs, ease strain in the balance of payments, meet temporary exchange difficulties, and fulfill stabilization programs. Mr. Jacobsson went on to discuss various problems encountered in connection with the Fund's activities and cited, inter alia, multiple currency practices, Fund liquidity, and, in connection with general aspects of the world economy, inflation, relative values of currencies, and financing for underdeveloped countries.

The ninth meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic Development in South and South-East Asia was held in Saigon, Viet Nam, October 21–24, 1957. The committee considered the draft annual report which reviewed the progress of economic development in the area and outlined the unfinished tasks. It was announced that the annual Canadian contribution to the Colombo Plan would be increased in 1958–1959, subject to the approval of Parliament, to $35 million. The United States representative informed the conference that a new $300 million development loan fund was being organized by his government to assist countries of south and southeast Asia. The Federation of Malaya was welcomed as a member of the Colombo Plan. On the final day of the meeting the invitation of the United States to hold the next year's meeting in the United States was accepted. The meeting adopted the draft annual report and issued a communiqué which noted the economic progress made in the area in the year under review and outlined some of the future tasks in economic development.

The Executive Committee of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) met in Geneva for its ninth session, September 24 to October 14, 1957, under the presidency of André Viaut. Discussing the International Geophysical Year (IGY), which had taken precedence in WMO activities, the committee approved the report of the working group on the IGY, re-established the group with revised terms of reference, and adopted a resolution on IGY world data centers. In its consideration of the meteorological aspects of the peaceful uses of atomic energy the committee endorsed the existing policy for action and examined the report of a panel of experts which had met in Geneva in December 1956. The committee pointed out the need for members to keep informed on the subject, and suggested that the Secretary-General prepare and distribute consolidated bibliographical lists from information supplied by members of the panel and by other WMO members. The Secretary-General was also authorized to negotiate an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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.

The Intergovernmental Committee of Ministers engaged in negotiating the proposed free trade area met in Paris, July 24–25, 1958. It was reported that following the session, the chairman of the group, Mr. Reginald Maudling, expressed hope for a definite agreement on most major issues. He stated that if real progress toward an accord were attained, less importance would be attached to the much-discussed proposal to extend to the members of OEEC the 10 percent tariff reductions to be made among the members of the European Economic Community.

The Trusteehip Council held its 24th session at UN Headquarters in New York from June 2 to August 6, 1959. At its opening meeting, the 967th, the Council adopted its provisional agenda which included examination of the annual reports of the administering authorities on the trust territories of Ruanda-Urundi, Togoland under French administration, New Guinea, Nauru, the trust territory of the Pacific Islands, Somaliland under Italian administration, and Western Samoa, as well as consideration of petitions, matters referred to the Council by the General Assembly, reports of visiting missions, the report of the UN Advisory Council for the Trust Territory of Somaliland under Italian administration, and reports of various committees of the Council.

Organized international intervention in colonial affairs has never found favor in the eyes of the European colonial powers. It did not at San Francisco when they sought to restrict the United Nations role in non-self-governing territories. It was not well received when the Security Council dealt with Indonesia nor were its results favored when the General Assembly disposed of the Italian empire. It does not please them, now, when the focus of public attention is on the political, economic, and social development of the colonies.

The Political Consultative Committee established under the Warsaw collective security treaty held its first meeting in Prague on January 27 and 28, 1956. In addition to representatives of the eight signatory powers (Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Rumania and the Soviet Union), an observer from the People's Republic of China attended the meeting. According to press reports, a declaration was issued at the close of the two-day meeting in which an immediate big-power agreement to exclude nuclear weapons from the equipment of any armies stationed in Germany was proposed. The declaration said that the Warsaw powers noted a basic change in the international situation and the existence of possibilities for its further improvement; while in Europe the continued armament of the western powers and the remilitarization of Germany made it essential for the signatories to ensure their own safety, at the same time they intended to work constantly for a system of collective security and general disarmament. Specifically, the declaration renewed an earlier Soviet proposal for a European collective security system and the establishment of a zone to include all Germany, where arms and troops would be limited and controlled. In the meantime, it recommended that nonaggression pacts should be made between states, and in general a start should be made to improve relations between states, irrespective of their existing or eventual membership in one or another military bloc. A communique issued with the declaration announced that the newly created army of the German Democratic Republic had been formally accepted into the command of Marshal Ivan S. Konev, supreme commander of the Warsaw treaty military structure.

The fifth regular session of the General Assembly, meeting at Lake Success on September 19, 1950, had before it an agenda of 70 items. The Assembly was expected to discuss, in particular, questions concerning Palestine, the former Italian colonies, the Balkans, threats to the political integrity of China, the problem of the independence of Korea, observance of human rights, international control of atomic energy, technical assistance for under-developed areas, freedom of information, refugees and stateless persons, matters concerning trusteeship and non-self-governing territories, administrative and budgetary matters, reports of the specialized agencies, and reports of the Secretary-General on activities of the organization during the year.