Book Review: The United Nations and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security
| Date | 01 March 1957 |
| Published date | 01 March 1957 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711785700100510 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
to
honour in time of war.
It
is certainly incontestable that the distinction between
civilian and belligerent has become hopelessly blurred in modem total war and
that
the Hague and Geneva Conventions in reality offer little protection against
the indiscriminate horrors of nuclear warfare. Some re-thinking of the laws of
war would therefore seem to the layman to bean urgent necessity. Other contribu-
tions include Dr. F. A. Mann on Conflict of Laws and the Prerogative Rights of
Foreign States, Mr. Eli Lauterpacht on the Codification of the Lawof Diplomatic
Immunity, Professor Wade on the Minquiers and Ecrehos Case, Mr. Commis-
sioner Latey on Divorce and Nullity and Professor Wortly on Domicile.
The Changing Charter. Andrew Martin and J. B. S. Edwards. The Sylvan Press
in association with the David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies.
12{6.
The United Nations and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security.
Leland M. Goodrich and Anne P. Simmons. The Brookings Institution.
Washington. $6.
Both these books appear at an opportune moment. The first is concerned to
illustrate how the Charter of the United Nations has been interpreted in the
course of the first ten years of its existence and how far it has been adapted in prac-
tice to meetthe recurring crisis in international affairs and the exigenciesof the cold
war. The authors do not blink the fact that the esssential problems entailed in any
basic revision of the Charter are political and, while not concealing their own
views,have produced a conciseand valuable study which should be of considerable
interest to all students of the international scene not least because of its brevity.
The
authors discuss the desirability of more radical changes, but their verdict is
against any such attempt at the present time.
The second book is one of a series planned to provide studies of the principal
activities of the United Nations and to give an appraisal based on the facts
considered. It is an exhaustive examination
ofthe
activities of the United Nations
in maintaining peace and security, including an extended appraisal of the Korean
situationand its sequel. The 700pages include useful appendices of the instruments
under consideration and a very full index. The authors take an objective view of
the United Nations and of its successes and failures and consider that in the
conditions of the cold war its achievements in maintaining peace and security
have been limited, although it has played a significant
part
in facilitating certain
political adjustments. They conclude that the most important obstacle to the
development of a more effective organization lies in the prevailing political
climate.
Britain in Western Europe. WEU and The Atlantic Alliance. A Report by a
Chatham House Study Group. Royal Institute
of
International Affairs. 7{6.
This is a valuable factual survey carried out by a group of students under the
auspices of Chatham House. They were drawn from all political parties and
their conclusions represent a concensus of their own individual opinions. In the
world of diplomacy much respect must still be paid to national susceptibilities
and
it is not always expedient to stress too obviously where the reality
of
power
lies. But non-office-holders, such as the authors of this report, can afford to be
more blunt. Whether it was ever possible to build a third force in Western Europe
independent both of Russia and America, and
if
possible, whether
it
was desirable,
whether there was ever a chance of
EDC
being accepted without British member-
ship, how it would have been possible (even
if
Britianhad
joined) to build a
European Army without a European Government, and whether there ever
existed a public opinion which at the crucial moment would have accepted the
implications of the federal
choice-all
these are now matters for academic
discussion. NATO is the real instrument of
power-a
fact only confirmed when
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