Recent Developments in Disarmament

Abstract

eminent American diplomat, Mr. Hugh Gibson, once referred to disarmament as being bogged in the soils of human nature that it is folly to expect a quick and simple solution. This may be an overly pessimistic view but it would certainly appear to be borne out by our experience at the United Nations. For while disarmament has been one of the main preoccupations of the world organization since its foundation, we must face the fact that today after ten years of almost continuous negotiation, we still seem to be a long way from achieving our goal. Everyone agrees in principle that something must be done to remove the threat of a war and to lighten the crushing burden of armaments, but so far no one has been able to devise an adequately safeguarded and practical programme which all the major states are prepared to accept. Nevertheless we cannot abandon these efforts to achieve disarmament. We must realize that there is an ever increasing element of urgency in this matter. As the stock of nuclear material increases and becomes more widely distributed, the possibility of devising an effective method of control becomes more remote and the prospects of a satisfactory settlement are increasingly impaired through the mere passage of time. This is a sobering thought which should induce us in all earnestness to do all we can to promote agreement as soon as possible. At the Ninth Session of the General Assembly in 1954, it seemed for a time that we might at last be on the road towards an agreement acceptable both to the Soviet Union and the major Western powers. The leader of the Soviet Delegation, the late Andrei Vishinsky, had announced his Government's acceptance of the Anglo-French proposals of June 11, 1954, as the basis for an international disarmament convention. A resolution embodying this measure of agreement and suggesting resumed meetings of the Sub-Committee of the Disarmament Commission was introduced by the Canadian Delegation, co-sponsored by the Delega-