The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1946-02-11
Today And Tomorrow
'(Continuea from Page One)

lousy rich in oil; it is presided
over by a cluster Of weak states
inhabited by peoples who are mis-
erably poor and largely illiterate
The native states are so backward
that, whatever the legal fiction,
their rulers are now puppets, usu-
ally unruly puppets who play off
one empire against another for
their own advantage and aggran-
dizement.
There can be no hope of peace
IN the Middle East. nothing but
conflict and intrigue which will
undermine the peace of the whole
world, unless the Big Three decide
to look for a comprehensive settle
ment which deals with all the ele-
ments OF the problem at once.
That would mean a strategic
agreement, an oil agreement, and
an agreement to set in motion
projects to raise the economic
level Of the region as a whole.
The strategic problem is posed
in the Italian treaty. The Soviet
Union is asking for a trusteeship
in Tripolitania. It is holding back
on the award Of the Dodecanese
Islands to Greece. At the same
time Marshal Tito in Yugoslavia is
laying claim to Trieste, and is ex.
erting pressure on Greece which
appears to be aimed at Greek
Macedonia and Salonika. It is
obvious that all of this adds up to
a plan of the Soviet Union not
only to open the Dardanelles but
to become in the Eastern Medi-
terranean a great sea and air
power. There is little doubt that
this is what it means since the
Russian postwar economic plan
calls for heavy investmnt in naval
power.
1t is necessary, therefore, to dis
cuss naval ornaments with the
Russians. There is the real issue,
of which Trieste, the Italian col
onies, Greece, and the Dodecanese
are only the external signs. We
must ask the Russians to discuss
with the British and ourselves the
problem of sea power. Until we
have an understanding on that,
the Italian peace treaty, which is
really a Mediterranean treaty, can
not be written.
Nor can there be an oil agree
ment. It is sef-evident that the
enormous oil reserves OF the Mid
die East must be shared. They can
not be monopolized. But it is
impossible to share them unless
there is strategic security. The
United States, for example, can
not depend upon oil supplies in an
area to which it does not have
assured access. Therefore, we too
have an interest that the Medi-
terranean shall remain open to
us at all times, and that will mean
that we must take more than an
academic interest in the strategi-
cal arrangements in that part Of
the world.
1t will mean in fact a three
way negotiation instead Of the
present two-power conflict. A very
different kind Of settlement can
be made to come Of that than
can possibly come out Of Mr..
Bevin's trying to initiate an i'm
movable object and Mr.. Vishin-
sky's trying to initiate an ire
sistible force.
But arrangements about strate-
gic security and oil will not in
themselves be enough, The whole
region needs an infusion of new
energy, and the rise Of fresh hope
amidst the dust and squalor of its
antique life. Neither the British
nor the Russians are. at present
able to infuse new energy: they
have lost too much in the war to
be able to provide this region with
the capital and the chronological
guidance which are so necessary
to it. Yet there is no prospect of
any exit from the dreary circle OF
intrigue and tribal animosity and
primitive rule except by a new orl-
entation. That can come only by
great works of development which
will make the desert bloom again,
and give men something else to
do, something else to think about,
something better to hope for, than
they have had in their long centu-
ries of exploitation and rnisrule.
Copyright, 1916, New York Tri-
bune Inc.
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