To mark the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO), the eleventh regular session of the Assembly was preceded by a special two-day tenth anniversary commemorative session. The eleventh session was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from May 28 to June 13, 1958. The President of the Assembly (Dr. Leroy E. Burney) stated in his inaugural address that WHO's efforts during its first ten years had been concentrated largely on the fight against the major communicable diseases. He emphasized the necessity for more research, the importance of intensifying training activities, and the need for wider public participation in health work. The Director-General, introducing his report on the work of WHO during 1957, stated that one indication of the direction in which WHO's work was likely to develop in the future was to be found in the repeated references made in the report to the coordination of research. He stated that one of the most pressing immediate needs continued to be the strengthening of national health services. He proposed an effective working budget for 1959 of $14,287,600, which represented an increase of 5.3 percent over the effective working budget for 1958. The Assembly approved the proposed budget.

“The nations seem to be advancing to unity,” wrote Alexis de Tocqueville in 1835. “Our means of intellectual intercourse unite the most remote parts of the earth; and it is impossible for men to remain strangers to each other, or to be ignorant of the events which are taking place in any corner of the globe.”

The Korean war will no doubt long be regarded as the crucial test of the ability of the United Nations to meet armed aggression with international force. In view of the complexity of the events connected with the war, it may be useful to attempt a tentative appraisal of the United Nations' role up to the point of truce negotiations

Perhaps the most striking development in the non-political activities of the United Nations system during recent years has been the rapid expansion of its field operations. While this evolution received its chief impetus from the “Expanded” Technical Assistance Program (ETAP)inaugurated in 1950, there have also been significant shifts of emphasis toward “aids to member states” in the “regular” programs of those specialized agencies concerned with welfare, notably the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and most recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This growth in the volume of outpost activities has led not only to the establishment of field offices in many countries but to an increasing consideration of the pros and cons of devolving the administration of aid programs from central headquarters to the country or regional level.

The General Assembly held its seventeenth session, comprising the II22nd–I202nd plenary meetings, at UN Headquarters from September 18 through December 20, 1962, during which time it took action on 95 items. The Assembly decided to convene a special session prior to June 30, 1963, for the purpose of considering the financial situation of the Organization. Six countries were admitted to membership during the session: at the II22nd meeting, Rwanda, Burundi, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago; at the II46th meeting, Algeria; and at the II58th meeting, Uganda. The membership of the UN was thereby brought to IIO.

The seventh meeting of the Consultative Committee on Economic Development in South and Southeast Asia (Colombo Plan) was held in Singapore from October 17 to 21, 1955, attended by the original members (Australia, Canada, Ceylon, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and the United Kingdom, together with Malaya and British Borneo), and by representatives of more recent member countries, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, the United States, Burma, Nepal, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, and Thailand. The United Kingdom announced at the meeting that it had decided to increase its commitment for technical assistance to Colombo Plan members to £7 million over the seven years beginning in April 1956, and the representative for the United States announced that his government had offered to establish in south or southeast Asia a center for nuclear research and training which would include a research reactor and a small power reactor. A communique issued at the conclusion of the meeting mentioned the increasing degree of self-help in the economic development of the region, and stressed the need to encourage private investment in the area. It was further announced that it had been decided at the meeting to extend the Colombo Plan, previously scheduled to end in 1957, until 1961.

At the 845th meeting of the Security Council, held at headquarters on January 30, 1959, a discussion of the Palestine question in terms of a letter dated January 26, from the permanent representative of Israel to the UN, began with statements by the parties concerned. The special meeting had been convened by die President of the Council in response to a request from the government of Israel.

The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) held its seventeenth session in Bucharest on December 74–20, 1962, attended by delegates from Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. A communiqué stated that a permanent currency and finance commission had been set up under the Council to develop cooperation in those fields among COMECON member countries, that international specialization and “socialist division of labor” among members had increased, and that during the first nine months of 7962 over-all trade among member countries had risen by 15 percent and trade in machinery and industrial equipment by 24 percent. The communiqué noted that the COMECON countries were now largely self-sufficient in certain raw materials, manufactures, etc., notably lignite, hard coal, oil and oil products, fertilizers, grain, machinery and industrial equipment, and timber.

The behavior of the Afro-Asian states on the Hungarian Question has been cited as an outstanding example of the discrepancy that exists between their moralistic pronouncements on international conduct and their true actions. It has also served to strengthen the view that they forma cohesive unit which is unduly solicitous of Soviet interests.

Under General Assembly resolution 177 (II), paragraph (a), the International Law Commission was directed to “formulate the principles of international law recognized in the Charter of the Nurnberg Tribunal and in the judgment of the Tribunal”.

The eighth joint session between the members of the Consultative Assembly and the European Parliamentary Assembly (EPA) took place in Strasbourg on September 19 and 20, 1961, under the joint presidency of Mr. Hans Furler (German Christian Democrat), president of EPA, and Mr. Per Federspiel (Danish Moderate Liberal), president of the Consultative Assembly. The debates opened with the report of Mr. P. J. Kapteyn (Dutch Labor), on behalf of EPA, and the Consultative Assembly's reply, presented by Mr. Michel Junot (French Independent). Mr. Kapteyn, speaking of the British approach to the Common Market, stressed that two world wars had brought Great Britain much nearer to continental Europe.

Listed below is the membership of United Nations bodies for 1968. Unless otherwise noted, membership expires on December 31 of the year indicated in parentheses. 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.

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) announced that the tariffs of five member states on imports of goods qualifying for EFTA treatment would be reduced IO percent on March 1, 1962. This reduction resulted in a total reduction in basic duties of 40 percent since July 1, 1960, for Denmark, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. For imports into Austria and Norway a corresponding reduction was to be made not later than September 1, 1962. The reduction was not yet to apply to certain limited classes of goods imported into Denmark. The tariff reductions were to be applied to imports from Finland in the same way as to imports from other member states.

The Assembly of the Western European Union (WEU) held the second part of its seventh ordinary session in Paris on December 11–15, 1961, under the presidency of Mr. Arthur Conte (French Socialist). In addition to discussing the state of European security, the Assembly debated questions concerning Berlin and the agricultural problems involved in the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Economic Community (EEC). The debate on agriculture was concerned with the implementation of recommendation 53, adopted in November 1960, in which the Assembly had called for negotiations for the accession of the United Kingdom to the EEC as a full member. Mr. Sicco Mansholt, vice-chairman of the EEC Commission, stated that if the United Kingdom entered the EEC, her agriculture would not have to overcome any exceptional difficulties which would justify a longer transition period than that of the six original members. He stated that this conclusion had been reached after a detailed comparison of relative prices and outputs in the United Kingdom and the six members of EEC. The Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution, presented by Mr. Hubert Leynen (Belgian Social Christian), calling upon the seven member governments of WEU to spare no effort to insure the success of the Brussels negotiations.

The ninth annual Conference of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentarians was held in Paris on November 4–8, 1963. Addressing the parliamentarians, Mr. Dirk U. Stikker, Secretary-General of NATO, outlined the three essential aspects of the evolution in international relationships presently confronting the Alliance: first, relations between East and East—the rivalry between the Soviet Union and Communist China; secondly, relations between East and West—the questions arising from the Soviet Union's agreement to sign a partial test-ban treaty and the relations between the West and the uncommitted world; and, thirdly, relations between West and West—relations within the Atlantic Alliance itself.

Covering the financial year from April 1, 1962, to March 31, 1963, the 33rd annual report of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) was submitted to the annual general meeting of the Bank held in Basle on June 10, 1963.

The European Parliament met in Strasbourg on May 14–15, 1963. Mr. Albert Coppé, Vice President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), presented the Community's annual report. He stressed the urgent need of a common energy policy and exposed the disturbing position of the steel market in which production was at its maximum and yet imports were rising. Mr. Coppé expressed the High Authority's wish that the problems now facing ECSC be included in the discussions of proposals for synchronization of European Community programs, and he reaffirmed the High Authority's position which was in principle favorable to the merger of the European Community's executive institutions.

On May 17, 1960, the European Parliamentary Assembly adopted unanimously, with 12 abstentions, a draft convention for election of its members by direct universal suffrage. The members of the Assembly were currently nominated by the six member national parliaments in proportion to party strength, but were the draft project, which had first to be approved by the Council of Ministers and ratified by the six national parliaments, to come into effect, a parliament directly responsible to the electorate of the six countries would be created for the first time. Elements of the proposal included: 1) an increase in the number of members from 142 to 426 who would vote individually and be forbidden to accept imperative instructions; and 2) a temporary provision proposing that, until the end of the transition period of the common market, only two-thirds of the members be directly elected, the other third to be appointed by the national parliaments as at present.

The essays in this volume are designed to throw light on the relations between two of the major novel and unique features of the current epoch of human history, features which distinguish the last quarter century from any other episode in the long record of man's efforts to deal with the problems of his society.