Evening star., 1950-08-08
Peace, Power and Mr.. Lie

Secretary General Trygve Lies fifth annual
report to the General Assembly of the United
Nations adds up to a solemn warning to all
peoples and governments that unless bold and
enlightened craftsmanship is brought to bear on
the situation, the world will drift faster and
faster toward the catastrophe of a universal war
Rightly describing 1t as "the worst of series
of dangerous crises" Mr.. Lie has made clear that
the Communist aggression against the Republic
Of Korea-a republic founded under the auspices
of the U. N. with a freely elected government
which the General Assembly has declared to be
the countryS sole legitimate authority-must be
firmly dealt with along the lines already laid
down by the Security Councils historic decisions
of June rs and 27. To that end, by implication,
his report urgently appeals to the Soviet Union
to stop giving either direct or indirect aid and
comfort to the North Koreans and to cooperate
instead with the overwhelming majority of the
United Nations for just and honorable finish
to the war now in progress
But Mr.. Lie has been at pains to emphasize
that such finish, when and if it comes, will
mark but the beginning of what will have to
be done-from year to year-to reverse the
trend toward international disaster. Thus, as
he sees the situation, "Once peace is restored
in Korea, it will then be more important than
ever that new attempt should be made to
resume the process of negotiation, mediation
and conciliation for the settlement of the con-
flicts that divide the world and threaten to
condemn us all to a third World War" More
over, in his judgment, this new attempt must
be made not by the lower-echelon representa-
tives Of the various governments but by the
Foreign Ministers Observation-Disclosures ami
mated by the realization that nothing less than
extraordinary and far-seeing craftsmanship is
needed to cope with the overall crisis
In declaring that this kind of action must
follow Korean settlement, Mr.. Lie has in mind
not merely the question of admitting Communist
China into the u. Ma step which he favorS-
but also issues that are basicaly much more
serious and complex. These include the Iron
Curtain, the lack Of international atomic control
and the failureTto write treaties for Germany,
Austria and Japan--a failure that has created
power vacuums into which Russia is trying to
move OF course, as the Secretary General
realizes, the solution of such problems will be
difficult in the extreme under the best Of cir
cumstances, but he holds that as long as there
is possibility Of settling them in accord with
the principles of the Charter, no member of the
u. N. must lever accept the doctrine Of irrecon-
cilable and irrevocable division of the world into
warning camps"
In a concluding note-based on the assump-
ton that there will be an effective Korean
settlement and that thereafter there will be
high-level effort to resume negotiations on other
dangerous iSSueS-Mr. Lies report makes the
fairly optimistic observation that "If the United
Nations is able to emerge intact and successful
from the present crisis its strength and influence
will be immeasurably enhanced, and the world
will be much closer to lasting peace than at
any time since 1945" That may be, but If so,
it will be owing largely to factor not mentioned
by Mr.. Lie-namely, the effort by the United
States and other free nations to rearm as fast
as possible to a degree that will make them
power.
Nobody should let himself be deluded on
that score. It is primarily because. the free
worlds armed forces in being are so relatively
weak, and Russia's so strong, that mankind today
is in danger Of war. Until the balance is righted
that danger will not lessen. For If recent history
has taught anything at all, it has taught that
the Kremlin is impervious to good will and
implacable in its refusal to work out decent
settlements. Accordingly, negotiations of the
sort advocated by Mr.. Lie, though certainly
necessary will get nowhere unless and until we
can enter them with real strength on our side.
Peace, in sum, cannot be divorced from
power in this day and age. Power is something
that the Soviet dictatorship understands and
respects, and until ours and that of our friends
abroad is built up and co-ordinated in way
that will end our present grave weaknesses, it
will be wishful thinking of the worst kind to
suppose that mere negotiation and high-minded
talk will Danish the threat Of worldwide Red
aggression.