Official international organizations are mechanisms which states join because they believe that membership will enable them more effectively to achieve the broad goals of their respective foreign policies. While there is no question that there has been a considerable element of idealism in its creation, the countries which have joined the United Nations have done so because they believe – or hope – that one or another of the instrumentalities provided by United Nations machinery can be used to their advantage. They may wish to improve their standard of living, to provide some increased measure of security either through implementation of the idea of world organization or through other specific policies, or to promote, perhaps, an expansion of their influence. With fifty–nine different Members, it would hardly be surprising to find fifty–nine differing points of view, and it should not be surprising to find these countries playing practical politics to get out of the United Nations precisely what they joined it to achieve, or, since there may be differences, what they desire to achieve after they have once been admitted. Each Member is, in short, using – or trying to use – United Nations machinery to further its own foreign policy.

Words, like thoughts, often change their significance when used as political symbols. For a great many Swedes neutrality has come to be a synonym for peace and independence. Of course neutrality, if it succeeds, always means peace for the country itself. But it is hardly a policy intended to preserve peace among nations. It is more similar to one of those means which man has invented in order to be able to wage war. When neutrality began to appear as a conception in international law it was rooted in the view that war is a legitimate contest and that no distinction should be drawn between an aggressor state and the state attacked. When in modern war a mighty aggressor looks upon the neutrality of small countries not as a useful limitation of the theater of operations but as an obstacle to victory, that power simply forces its will upon the neutral. At the same time the great contest of our time arises from a conflict between authoritarian states and free democracies and tends to be total, involving all spheres of national and individual life. Moreover, international law no longer implies a sovereign right to go to war but moves towards a distinction between an unjust war of aggression and a just war of defense. All this means that the states attacked are not likely to look upon impartial neutrality as a matter of course and a proper standard of conduct.

While analysis of any institution of such recent origin as the Interim Committee of the General Assembly can be only tentative in nature and must be subject to reservation at many points, it is possible at this time to identify certain trends in the development of the Interim Committee and its work. The broad questions to which an answer will be sought in the course of this inquiry are these: Why did a 1945 Netherlands' proposal for a standing committee on peace and security of the General Assembly meet with little response in the Preparatory Commission, while two years later a similar proposal by the United States was accepted by an overwhelming majority? For what purposes was the Interim Committee established, and, how successfully has it accomplished these purposes? Has the Interim Committee been organized in the best possible fashion for performance of its assigned functions? What, at this time, seems to be the future role of the Interim Committee in the United Nations system?

The General Assembly of the United Nations fell heir to one of the most vexing and obdurate problems of the postwar diplomatic scene when in September 1948 the big four powers referred to it the problem of the disposition of the Italian colonies. For over three years, the Big Four had wrestled ineffectually with this problem. Despite the deliberations of special deputies of the Council of Foreign Ministers for nearly a year, the efforts of a Four Power Commission of Investigation which visited the colonies, and the advice of nineteen other interested governments, the future of the colonies remained undetermined on September 15, 1948, one year after the coming into force of the treaty of peace with Italy. On that date, the authority of the Big Four to decide the future of the colonies expired according to Annex XI of the Italian peace treaty, which provided that in the event of failure of France, Britain, the USSR and the United States to agree to a solution, the matter was to be referred to the United Nations General Assembly.

The second part of the third session of the General Assembly met at Lake Success from April 5 to May 18, 1949. Herbert V. Evatt of Australia continued to serve as president and Charles Malik (Lebanon) as chairman of the social, humanitarian and cultural committee. Fernand van Langenhove (Belgium) was elected chairman of the political and security committee to replace Paul-Henri Spaak (Belgium) who resigned, and George Ignatieff (Canada) was elected chairman of the administrative and budgetary committee to replace Dana Wilgress (Canada) who resigned.

Application of the Republic of Korea: The report of the Committee on the Admission of New Members concerning the application of the Republic of Korea for admission to the United Nations was considered at the 423rd meeting of the Council on April 8, 1949. Attacked by the Soviet and Ukrainian representatives as a puppet regime illegally established by the intervention of an illegally constituted Interim Committee of the Assembly, the Republic of Korea was strongly defended by the representatives of the United States, China and Argentina as an independent state willing and able to assume the obligations of membership. The vote on the Chinese resolution to recommend the admission of Korea recorded nine members in the affirmative, with the USSR and the Ukrainian SSR in the negative. The resolution therefore failed to pass because of the negative vote of the Soviet Union.

The ninth session of the Economic and Social Council opened in Geneva on July 5, 1949. The provisional agenda of 52 items for the session included the consideration of the various reports of the Council's functional and regional economic commissions; reports by the Secretary-General on a wide range of subjects among which were the promotion of training in public administration, the status of stateless persons, housing and town and country planning, the economic development of underdeveloped areas, measures to increase the availability of food, and forced labor and measures for its abolition; relations with and coordination of the specialized agencies; relations with other inter-governmental organizations; and the reports submitted in accordance with agreements between the United Nations and ILO, FAO, UNESCO, WHO, ITU, UPU and IRO. In addition, ECOSOC was to elect three members of the Economic Board for Palestine, one-third of the members of eight of its functional commissions and fifteen members of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

The Trusteeship Council met at Lake Success for its fifth session on June 15, 1949 to consider a thirteen point agenda: 1) adoption of the agenda; 2) report of the Secretary-General on credentials; 3) election of a president and vice-president; 4) examination of annual reports on the administration of trust territories — New Guinea, Nauru and the first report on the Pacific Islands; 5) examination of petitions; 6) arrangements for the visiting mission to trust territories in West Africa; 8) revision of the provisional questionnaire; 9) revision of the rules of procedure; 10) administrative unions affecting trust territories; 11) educational advancement in trust territories; 12) adoption of the report of the Council to the General Assembly; and 13) adoption of a report to the Security Council.

On April 9, 1949, the International Court of Justice gave its judgment in the Corfu Channel Case. By eleven votes to five the Court gave judgment that the People's Republic of Albania was responsible under international law for the explosions which occurred on October 22, 1946, in Albanian waters and for the damage and loss of life resulting therefrom; by ten votes to six it reserved for further consideration the assessment of the amount of compensation; by fourteen votes to two it gave judgment that the United Kingdom did not violate the sovereignty of Albania by reason of the acts of the British Navy in Albanian waters on October 22, 1946; and it unanimously gave judgment that the acts of the British navy during the course of the minesweeping activities on November 12 and 13, 1946 did constitute violation of the sovereignty of Albania.

A report containing 57 proposals for expanded activities in technical assistance for economic development was transmitted by Director General N. E. Dodd to member governments of the Food and Agriculture Organization. The report contained portions of the general cooperative program agreed upon by the executive heads of the United Nations and the specialized agencies which referred particularly to work in FAO's field. The projects did not constitute an inclusive list but were rather a series of concrete examples of fields of activities in which technical assistance was needed for economic development. The projects were considered as part of an expanded program of general economic development and were to be closely related to the present program of work, but because the regular working program included little continuing assistance to governments in particular problems, the supplementary projects were to concentrate on that kind of aid. FAO proposed work in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, forestry, rural services and economic and statistical services. The proposals totaled in cost about $9.5 million for the first year and about $11.5 million for the second year, while actual programs and cost would depend on the degree of participation by beneficiary governments, who would be expected to bear a considerable part of the total cost.

On April 29, 1949 the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced the results of its operations for the nine-month period ending March 31, 1949. Net income amounted to $7,383,006 as compared with $2,242,597 for the first nine months of the preceding fiscal year. The Bank's income was $15,611,704 plus $3,701,468 of the special reserve account and total expenses for the nine-month period amounted to $8,228,698. During the first three months of 1949 the International Bank approved four new loans amounting to $125,100,000, bringing the total loans approved by the Bank since its organization to $650,100,000. These four new loan agreements consisted of two agreements with two Mexican corporations in the amount of $34,100,000, an agreement with the Brazilian Traction, Light and Power Company, Ltd. in the amount of $75,000,000, and an agreement with the Kingdom of Belgium in the amount of $16,000,000. It was expected that a portion of these loans would be disbursed in currencies other than United States dollars.

During its sixth session in April 1949, the International Civil Aviation Organization Council prepared for the third assembly of the organization. Because of the restricted scope of the assembly only inter-governmental organizations were to be invited: United Nations, UNESCO, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, ILO, WMO, IMCO, the International Monetary Fund, ITU, UPU and WHO.

The thirty-second general conference of the International Labor Organization opened in Geneva on June 8,1949. The conference was to consider, among others, seven separate items: 1) a Polish resolution on wages; 2) an international convention on wages; 3) changes in the voting procedure; 4) two conventions on migratory employment; 5) a convention on working conditions; and 6) a formal recommendation on vocational training.

In its monthly summary of transactions, the International Monetary Fund announced in April 1949, that it had sold U.S. $7,500,000 to India for rupees during March. There were no other currency exchanges that month. In April, Brazil and Egypt made their first currency purchase from the Fund: Brazil exchanged cruzeiros for $15 million and Egypt $3 million for Egyptian pounds. This brought the total of currency transactions made by member countries of the Fund to $725,483,380.91 since the beginning of operations in March 1947. On May 24, the Fund announced the establishment of the initial par value for the Yugoslav dinar at 50 dinars per United States dollar, the rate proposed by the government of Yugoslavia. On May 3, the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development were signed by the Siamese ambassador to the United States on behalf of Siam. This brought to a total of 48 the number of countries that were members of the two organizations. The Fund announced on May 27, the conclusion of consultations with the government of Ecuador on Ecuador's exchange system, and on related matters of credit and monetary policies. As a result of previous consultations with the Fund, Ecuador in June 1947 had introduced certain modifications in her then existing exchange control laws and regulations which were contained in the Emergency Law for International Transfers. As a result of discussions concluded in May the Emergency Law was to be continued for one year more on the understanding that in the meantime consultations between Ecuador and the Fund would take place regarding modifications in the present exchange system.

The report of the Director-General on the work of the International Refugee Organization since July 1,1948 stated that by December 1948, IRO had received 1,000,000 applications for assistance. The main factors contributing to the high rate of intake were: 1) the large number of applications from persons who, employed in Germany and Austria, had not previously required IRO assistance, but who, as a result of widespread unemployment appearing immediately after the currency reforms, were unable to support themselves or their families; and 2) the influx of new refugees from eastern Europe. The administrative restriction upon the admission of new cases only on proof of hardship had been maintained. The figure for new admissions to care and maintenance had reached an average of 8,000 per month, including approximately 1,100 births. Despite a high rate of new admissions, the total number of refugees receiving care and maintenance, rather than simply help in resettlement or repatriation, had diminished at a rate of 10,000 or more per month. Of the major national or ethnic groups, the Jewish group had declined most rapidly, reflecting principally departures for Israel. In addition to those persons receiving care and maintenance, there were 191,232 refugees registered for IRO services. This brought to a total 715,091 persons receiving IRO assistance at the end of December 1948.

In March 1949 it was announced that Ethiopia and the Union of South Africa had ratified the International Telecommunication Convention. The convention had also been ratified by the Byelorussian SSR and the Ukrainian SSR but with reservations on article 18. The Argentine Republic approved the documents signed at the Administrative Radio Conference, Atlantic City, 1947, and authorized their administrative application from January 1, 1949.

On April 8, 1949, more than 500 delegates and assistants from thirty-four countries met in Annecy, France, for trade meetings convened to discuss tariff barriers and other problems of international trade. Twenty-three nations already adhered to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and eleven others wished to join it. The first of such meetings had been held in Geneva in 1947. The first meeting of the series held in Annecy concluded on April 22 after adopting a declaration defining the position of Palestine in relation to the agreement and adopting a decision to seek emergency measures to resolve the crisis of the Cuban textile industry. The meeting also studied charges of trade restrictions, plans for customs unions, problems of new tariff negotiations, African import restrictions that had introduced discriminations against imports from dollar and other hard currency areas, the dispute between India and Pakistan over rebate of the excise tax on exports to Pakistan from India, the South African–Southern Rhodesian customs union and modifications of various countries' tariff schedules introduced since 1947.

The Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization held its sixteenth session in Paris on June 9, 1949. Following a Polish protest that the French Government had withheld a visa from a Polish delegate, it was moved by the Brazilian delegate (Carniero) that steps be taken to insure that diplomatic immunity be extended to all members of the UNESCO executive board as well as to members of the governing bodies of other international agencies. After discussing the question, the representatives considered the Director General's (Bodet) report on the activities of UNESCO for the period from February 1 to June 1,1949.

On March 22, 1949 Costa Rica ratified the constitution of the World Health Organization and on April 13 WHO was joined by Honduras, thus bringing the membership of the organization to 61.

The agreement by which the Pan American Sanitary Organization became the regional office for WHO in the western hemisphere was signed on May 24, 1949 in Washington by Dr. Brock Chisholm, Director General of WHO and Dr. Fred L. Soper, Director of the Pan American Sanitary Office. Under the agreement the office was to adopt and promote health and sanitary conventions and programs in the western hemisphere provided they were “compatible with the policy and programs of the World Health Organization and are separately financed.”

Advice and consent to ratification of the Convention of the World Meteorological Organization was given by the United States Senate on April 20, 1949. The United States instrument of ratification was deposited on May 4, 1949 in the archives of the United States Government, which had been designated by the convention as the depository government. The convention was to enter into force thirty days after the date of the deposit of the thirtieth instrument of ratification or accession. The United States was the seventeenth government to deposit its instrument of ratification. The other governments were: Australia, Byelorussian SSR, Finland, Iceland, India, Lebanon, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Rumania, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukrainian SSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom and Yugoslavia.