Spain from membership in specialized agencies. It did not affect the condemnatory sections of the preamble of the 1946 resolution or a provision which, as stated in 1947, expressed the confidence of the General Assembly that the Security Council would exercise its responsibilities under the Charter as soon as it considered that the situation in Spain so required. Nor did it affect the earlier resolutions barring Spain from U.N. membership. The General Assembly on November 4, 1950, adopted the eight-power resolution by 38 votes to 10, with 12 abstentions. Only the Soviet group, together with Guatemala, Israel, Mexico, Uruguay, and Yugoslavia, voted adversely. Before the end of the year the Food and Agriculture Organization had admitted Spain to membership and the International Civil Aviation Organization had resumed relations with Spain. C. GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1. General Assembly Resolution on Uniting for Peace A significant achievement of the fifth session of the General Assembly, and a major development in the United Nations, was the adoption of the resolution entitled "Uniting for Peace." Secretary of State Acheson first stated the principles of this resolution in the general debate on September 20. Later the United States proposed that the item be included in the agenda and jointly with Canada, France, the Philippines, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay submitted a draft resolution on the subject. Chile became a cosponsor during the course of debate when a new section was added on her initiative. The Assembly adopted the resolution by the overwhelming majority of 52 votes to 5 (Soviet bloc), with 2 abstentions (Argentina and India). The Uniting for Peace program is designed to apply the lessons learned in the Korean case and to overcome some of the obstacles to effective U.N. action which were dramatized in that operation. It seeks to insure that, when armed aggression again takes place, prompt and effective U.N. consideration will not be frustrated by veto or filibuster. It seeks to eliminate any need for such improvisation as was necessary in Korea, by laying a basis for a program in which members will make adequate forces available to the United Nations without undue delay. The Uniting for Peace resolution makes it possible for the General Assembly promptly to recommend collective measures whenever the Security Council fails to exercise its primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security as a result of lack of unanimity of the permanent members. It creates a Peace Observation Commission which can observe and report on the situation in areas where there exists international tension upon the invitation or the consent of the state into whose territory it would go. If aggression does occur as was demonstrated in Korea-the reports of a U.N. agency on the spot are extremely helpful to the United Nations. The resolution calls upon members to prepare themselves so that if the need arises they can make forces available to the United Nations. It establishes a Collective Measures Committee to study and report on methods which the United Nations might use to maintain international peace. The response of member states to the plan was impressive. The belief in the fidelity of members to the Charter, strengthened by the action in Korea, was reflected in the statements of the overwhelming majority of members in support of the resolution. A number of states took the position that the plan to utilize the General Assembly instead of the Security Council, if the latter is made impotent by veto, might change the character of the United Nations but believed that such a change was desirable. The United States and others repeatedly expressed the view, however, that the plan is entirely consistent with the Charter and was in effect contemplated at San Francisco as a possibility if the Security Council should fail to exercise its primary responsibility for maintaining the peace. The Uniting for Peace resolution embodies suggestions made by various delegations. However, the major features of the program originally proposed are maintained. Some of the changes are minor, designed to allay Charter doubts expressed by members during the debates. WHAT THE RESOLUTION PROVIDES The Uniting for Peace resolution consists of five parts. NT P Part A provides that if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately, with a view to making appropriate recommendations to members for collective measures to maintain or restore international peace or security. The resolution envisages that the measures recommended by the General Assembly would include the use of armed force in case there had been an actual breach of the peace or act of aggression. If there is only a threat to the peace, the General Assembly would consider the matter and make recommendations, but the resolution does not envisage a recommendation to use armed force. The resolution amends the Assembly's rules of procedure so that if the Assembly is not in session at the time an incident occurs it may meet in emergency special session within 24 hours. Such emergency special session will be called by the Secretary-General if requested by the Security Council or by a majority of the members of the United Nations. The resolution reflects the opinion of the General Assembly that a decision of the Security Council to request a special session of the General Assembly is a decision of a procedural character which is not subject to veto, and it requires the affirmative vote of any seven members. The chief significance of this part of the resolution is that it asserts the right and intention of the General Assembly, authorized under articles 10 and 11 of the Charter, to recommend that members take collective measures to maintain peace whenever the Security Council fails to do so. Part B establishes a Peace Observation Commission which can observe and report on the situation in any area where there exists international tension likely to endanger international peace and security. This Commission can be utilized by the Security Council, or by the General Assembly, or by the Interim Committee if the Assembly is not in session, provided that the Security Council is not exercising its functions under the Charter with respect to the case in question. A decision to send the Commission would require a two-thirds vote in either the General Assembly or the Interim Committee, and it would have to be upon the invitation or with the consent of the state into whose territory the Commission would go. Use of the Commission by the Security Council would be under its general authority under the Charter. The Commission is authorized to appoint subcommissions and to utilize the services of observers whom, if it wishes, it may draw from the United Nations Panel of Field Observers established pursuant to a resolution of the General Assembly at its fourth session (Res. 297 B (IV)). Originally the United States had been of the opinion that this Commission should consist of only small "neutral" powers so that its reports would be considered as objective as possible. The Soviet Union, however, supported this part of the resolution and expressed the opinion that it should be represented on the Commission. Other countries too were of the view that the Peace Observation Commission should be as representative as possible and should include members both large and small from all areas of the world. All the "Big Five" are included on the Cominission; the other members are Colombia, Czechoslovakia, India, Iraq, Israel, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sweden, and Uruguay. Part C of the resolution is designed to assure that if the United Nations calls upon the members to take collective action against aggression the members will be in a position to contribute forces and material. Paragraph 7 invites each member to survey its resources in order to determine the nature and scope of the assistance which it may be in a position to render in support of the recommendations. of the Security Council or the General Assembly. Paragraph 8 recommends that each member maintain within its national armed forces elements so trained, organized, and equipped that they could promptly be made available for service as a United Nations unit or United Nations units. Nations are not asked to set aside or "earmark" units for use exclusively for United Nations purposes; a member may use elements so maintained for its own defense as part of its regular armed forces. Members of the United Nations are invited to inform the Collective Measures Committee established under part D of the resolution (see below) of the measures taken to carry out this recommendation. The resolution also requires the Secretary-General to appoint, with the approval of the Collective Measures Committee, a panel of military experts who would, when requested, offer technical advice to member states in regard to the organization, training, and equipment of the elements of national armed forces which states are requested to maintain. Part D establishes a Collective Measures Committee to study and report to the Security Council and to the General Assembly, before September 1, 1951, on methods which might be used to maintain and strengthen international peace and security. This Committee would study and advise the United Nations as to organization of resources and armed-force units which member states would be willing to make available pursuant to this resolution, so that they could be effectively used by the United Nations against aggression. The Collective Measures Committee is composed of 14 members: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Burma, Canada, Egypt, France, Mexico, the Philippines, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union and its satellites opposed this part of the resolution and declared this Committee illegal. They are not represented on it. Part E of the resolution, added on the motion of the Chilean Delegation, recognizes that enduring peace will not be secured solely by collective-security arrangements but requires also observance of the Charter and of Security Council and General Assembly resolutions intended to achieve international peace and security and, especially, respect for and observance of human rights and the establishment and maintenance of conditions of economic and social well-being. It urges all members to intensify joint action to develop and stimulate respect for and observance of human rights and to intensify individual and collective efforts to achieve conditions of economic stability and social progress, particularly through the development of underdeveloped countries and areas. No specific action is requested. OTHER RESOLUTIONS During the discussions in the Political Committee the Soviet Union argued that the Uniting for Peace resolution violated the letter and spirit of the Charter by seeking to supersede the Security Council and the system of enforcement action established by the Charter and substituting a new program centered in the General Assembly. The Soviet Delegation maintained that the action which the United Nations should have taken at this time was to call upon the Big Five to reach agreement so that the Security Council could effectively maintain international peace on behalf of the United Nations. Specifically, the Soviet Delegation believed that to preserve the peace it was necessary to achieve Big Power unanimity and to take joint temporary action pending the coming into effect of the machinery contemplated by chapter VII of the Charter. The Soviet Union Delegation introduced two resolutions designed to achieve this result. In the first Soviet resolution the General Assembly was asked to recommend to the Security Council that it take the necessary steps to insure that the action provided for under the Charter be taken whenever the maintenance of international peace and security is endangered. Specifically, this resolution asks the Security Council to |