The second part of the ninth ordinary session of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe was held from October 16 to 29, 1957, under the presidency of Mr. Fernand Dehousse.

On July 11, 1958, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development made a loan equivalent to $33 million to the Japan Development Bank to assist the privately owned Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. to modernize and expand the capacity of its iron and steel plants. United States, German, and Swiss banks participated in the loan, without the Bank's guarantee, for a total amount equivalent to $1,100,000. The entire project was scheduled for completion by March 1962 at an estimated cost equivalent to $83 million. The Bank's loan, which financed approximately 40 percent of this total, was for a term of 15 years and bore interest of 5⅜ percent. It was guaranteed by the government of Japan.

The Atlantic Community regards itself as the core of the free world and, at least in aspiration, as the leader of all the peoples which have not fallen under the communist spell. The major barriers to the successful assertion of that leadership are the suspicion and hostility generated by the era of Western imperial overlordship of most of the world and the radical divergence in view as to what constitutes the major problem of our times. Although there are marked differences of emphasis within it, the Atlantic Community arms and guards against the threat of communist imperialism, while much of Asia and Africa still see the colonialism of the West as the gravest and most immediate menace to their own freedom and the peace of the world. For the most part they want to abstain from what seems to them the sterile and unrewarding task of holding back communism in order to be able to concentrate on their own immense problems of stabilization, integration, and development. Aware of their pressing needs, and of what the West has to offer, they look to the Atlantic Community for economic and other assistance, even though they may also be ready to accept assistance from the communist states as well. It is probable that most of those in responsible positions in the Atlantic Community have a greater degree of understanding and sympathetic appreciation of the position of the underdeveloped countries than the leaders of the latter have of the West's concern with communism.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has been established as a specialized agency under the United Nations. An agreement, negotiated between the Preparatory Commission and the United Nations in June, 1946, was later approved by the General Conference of UNESCO, and by the General Assembly of the United Nations, provided that UNESCO, should maintain direct working relations with the Economic and Social Council's commissions and committees, with the Secretariat of the United Nations, and with other specialized agencies.

The British Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations have today at least one thing in common, namely, that each faces a crisis so serious as to threaten its very survival. Nor are the reasons for the crises so very different. In part they stem from the nature of the two institutions. Both are associations of sovereign states, each one of which views the Commonwealth or United Nations relationship as only one strand–and only rarely the most important strand–in a complex and variegated web of relationships.

Listed below is the membership of United Nations bodies for 1969. Unless otherwise noted, membership expires on December 31 of the year indicated in parenthesis. Where names of individuals are listed, the members serve in their personal capacities and not as representatives of states; their nationalities are given for information only.

Case concerning the Aerial Incident of July 27, 7955 (United Kingdom v. Bulgaria): In response to a request from the government of Bulgaria, the International Court, in an order of May 27, 1959, extended the time limit for the deposit of the Bulgarian counter-memorial from June 9, 1959, to August 10, 1959.

Mr. Paul van Zeeland (Belgium) presided over the eleventh session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe which was held in Strasbourg, May 22 and 23. Several meetings of the ministers' deputies had been held prior to the convening of the eleventh session to consider primarily the Eden proposals, in particular a memorandum circulated by the United Kingdom deputy expanding his government's ideas. On the basis of this memorandum and on replies to a questionnaire circulated to governments by the deputies, the deputies reported to the Committee of Ministers that “it had not been possible to reach agreement on the action to be taken on the British proposals … the majority of the delegations considered that the Committee of Ministers and the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe … could be used as the ministerial and parliamentary institutions of (the restricted) Çommunities.” At its eleventh session, the Committee of Ministers, noting the report of the deputies, decided to give formal approval to the principles underlying the Eden proposals and to request the opinion of the Consultative Assembly on the best means of giving them effect.

The eighth session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was held in Rome from November 4 through 25, 1955 under the chairmanship of the Right Honorable K. J. Holyoake (New Zealand). The Conference had accepted the proposals submitted by the FAO Council on the organization of the eighth session, and consequently established various commissions to deal with agenda items pertaining to program trends and policy questions in food and agriculture, constitutional and legal questions, and administrative and financial questions. During its discussion of the world food and agricultural situation, the Conference noted that world per capita agricultural production, which had decreased by ten to fifteen percent at the end of World War II, had regained its pre-war level in spite of an increase of nearly 25 percent in population. However, agricultural production had increased more rapidly in advanced countries than in economically under-developed ones, so that per capita production in Asia and Latin America wasstill below pre-war levels, while surpluses had built up in the more advanced countries. The Conference felt that this situation was due to a failure to expand effective demand for farm products as rapidly as technical developments made it possible to expand production. Although the Conference noted that surplus agricultural commodities had increased more slowly in 1954–1955 than in the two preceding years, it felt that this had been due at least as much to poor crops in some countries as to increased consumption or to a planned reduction of output.

The press announced that the Inter-American Economic and Social Council met in Punta del Este, Uruguay, under the auspices of the Organization of American States (OAS) from August 5 to 17, 1961. A draft act embodying the principles of the “Alliance for Progress” plan for the economic development of Latin America envisaged by the United States was put before the meeting by the delegates of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and the United States, according to press reports. Mr. Douglas Dillon, United States Secretary of the Treasury, promised that his government would provide active assistance in the form of development loans running up to 50 years, but Mr. Dillon made it clear that the development scheme depended on the local programs for social and economic advancement. It was noted that aside from the United States offers, some European and odier countries had indicated that they would take part in development programs in the area.

Since 1962 the United Nations, mainly through the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (Special Committee of 24), has attempted to effect political change in dependent territories in accordance with the principle of self-determination of peoples. While the organization usually demands that the inhabitants be given a chance to determine their political future and to choose their government, its primary objective has been somewhat more specific. Spurred on by the influx of new members that occurred around the start of the decade, most of them former colonies, the UN has pressured for the complete displacement of alien rule in dependent territories and has tended to accept whatever type of government emerges as long as it is indigenous, that is, not controlled by a colonial power or European settlers.

From its 874th through its 876th meetings the Security Council considered the complaint of the government of Cuba that that country had been subjected by the government of the United States to “repeated threats, harassments, intrigues, reprisals and aggressive acts.” The discussion was opened by Mr. Raúl Roa, Cuban Minister for Foreign Affairs, who began by asserting that Cuba had been under no juridical obligation to bring its complaint to the Organization of American States (OAS) before submitting it to the Council. He then traced the history of United States hostility to the revolutionary government of Cuba, hostility based, in his opinion, on opposition to the Agrarian Reform instituted by that government and culminating in the recent drastic curtailment of the Cuban sugar quota. In his reply to Mr. Roa, Mr. Lodge (United States) assured the Cuban government that the United States had no aggressive purposes against Cuba, and deplored the removal of the controversy between the two nations from its rightful forum in OAS to the Security Council. He also indicated, after a summary of Cuban-United States relations during the preceding year and a half from the United States point of view, that the reduction of the Cuban sugar quota had been no act of economic aggression, but rather a justifiable measure of self-protection on the part of the United States to ensure its needed supply of sugar in the face of acts by the Cuban government which made this supply extremely insecure. In conclusion, Mr. Lodge stated his belief that someday, somehow, Cuba and the United States would again be friends.

This essay is addressed to the issue of the extent to which and the ways in which the United Nations may serve the interest of the United States in the maintenance of world peace during the decade that lies ahead. It rests upon two assumptions, both of which require careful qualification: first, the assumption that the United States has, and recognizes that it has, a fundamental interest in international peace; second, the assumption that the United Nations is in principle an organization dedicated to the promotion of international peace.

Organizational and procedural problems occupied the greater part of the business of the first session of the South Pacific Commission which was held in Sydney, Australia, from May 11 to May 21, 1948. Although formal ratification of the agreement creating the commission had not been received from France and the Netherlands, both countries had stated that ratification was to be formalized as soon as possible, and their commissioners were empowered to act as though ratification had taken place.

On October 31, 1949 a preparatory meeting of representatives of the northern European regional planning group – Britain, Denmark and Norway – was held in London. It was attended by the defense ministers, their chiefs-of-staff and other advisers of the three countries. Instructions necessary for the permanent establishment of this group, for meetings of the chiefs-of-staff of member countries, as well as for meetings of the ministers themselves were issued. There was to be also a permanent committee of principal staff officers in London, responsible to the chiefs-of-staff, to provide day-to-day coordination.

On February 20, 1959, Denmark announced the repurchase from the International Monetary Fund of $17 million which, together with repurchases made in March and June 1958, exceeded by $8.5 million the $34 million purchased by Denmark from the Fund in July 1957. The excess was applied to reducing the Fund's holdings of kroner to 75 percent of quota. On March 19, the United Kingdom made a repurchase of $200 million, in line with its announced intention to repurchase its outstanding balance monthly through 1960 and 1961, or more expeditiously if possible.

The eighteenth session of the South Pacific Commission was held at Commission headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia, from September 26 to October 12, 1958. At the session the Commission placed emphasis on the need for an all-out campaign against the rhinoceros beetle, which had become a major threat to the economy of the South Pacific. The Commission decided that a meeting of its rhinoceros beetle advisory committee of leading Pacific entomologists would be held in Suva from February 16 to 20, 1959, to review results of present campaigns against the beetle, and to plan further action. The Commission also made a further grant of £3,000 for 1959 to assist the investigation being carried out on its behalf by the Institute of Scientific Research in Madagascar.