Evening star., 1942-06-14

some degree of supranational authority,
may be gradually established.
Every one at all familiar with the his
the desirability of this cooling of" pc
riod. The Covenant of 1919 was drafted
Immediately after the last war, in an
atmosphere of inflamed nationalism,
with hate and fear and bitterness the
dominant psychological factors. Many
of the eventually fatal difficulties of the
League trace back to that poisoned orr
gin.
Hatred and bitterness will certainly not
be less pronounced at the close of the
present hostilities in which the number
of people subjected and terrorized. as
well as the physical destruction and dis
location. has already been far greater
than in World War l. AS a measure of
unemployment relief, many soldiers of
the United Nations may have to be kept
under arms after general fighting stops.
These disciplined forces can provide the
international police power" which Mr.
Welles anticipates. But the period of
pOllCIlS llluol DC OllC VI Spll lJudl DIS well
as physical reconstruction.
Nucleus of World Organization.
None can now estimate the probable
length of thfs policing period, its dura-
ton depending, among other uncertain
ties, on the extent of the fighting de-
struction still to be endured Mr.. Welles
uses the term years" in this connection.
In any case it will be reasonable to an
ticipate long armistice, prior even to
the drafting of those peace provisions
which should finally close the present
tragic era of international anarchy.
The Undersecretary of State further
suggests that the United Nations will
become the nucleus of world organi-
to align the administration with the
'universalist' rather than the region
alist" school of thought on postwar Or
ganization. Each of these divisions has
its persuasive advocates, though the
final outcome is more likely to be de-
termined by the course of the fighting
than by theoretical reasoning at this
stage
The universalist school believes that
the various nations of 1899, with some
notifications and perhaps some new
corners like India and the Philippines,
should be reconstructed and then again
drawn together in revived League of
! Nations. 1t is assumed that the United
States will be an active member of this
new League, and that there will be i'm
provement on the constitutional and
structural shortcomings of its predeces-
sor.
Regionalist School.
The regionalist school. on the other
hand, believes that international Or
ganization will in the long run be
stronger if initial emphasis is this time
placed on an intermediate stage of close
cooperative association among geo.
graphical neighbors. 1t is argued that
regional unions of nations would pro-
vide the strong foundations without
which an all-inclusive league may. as
last time, be more impressive in theory
than in practice.
OF course it is possible to combine the
universal and the regional ideas and
some such combination is apparently
deemed desirable by the Undersecretary
of State. In aiming at world organiza-
ton he cannot believe the peoples of
the United States and of the Western
Hemisphere will ever relinquish the
erAmerican system they have built
up" This regional federation" says
Mr. Welles, should constitute corner
stone in the world structure of the
future"
This formula suggests that great
powers should give particular leadership
in their own geographical region and
general leadership in orderly inter-
regional cooperation. Such a plan
should appeal to national pride. But
one should notice that Mr.. Welles stipu-
lates what he calls the sovereign
equality of peoples throughout the
world"
To establish and maintain this
equality there must be effective supra
national authority to which both great
and small nations consider themselves
equally subject.