Evening star., 1952-02-06
The u. Ms Poris Session

FeOple looking IOT clear Signs Oh POSITIVE
progress toward good peace viii ind none in
the record of the now-adjourned sixth session
Of the United Nations General Assembly. Inter-
national tensions seem at least as serious today
as when the meetings began in Paris three
months ago. The deliberations and debates
some of them extremely bitter certainly do not
appear to have assuaged the situation. nor have
they resulted in any great decisions offering
even a slight promise of an early lVe-and-let-
live understanding between the free world and
the world of the Soviet Union.
To say this, however is not to say that the
Paris session has been failure, or that 1t has
achieved nothing, or that it has fallen far short
of expectations which, after ALL can never be
high as long as Russian policies remain un-
changed True enough, now that it has wound
up its business, the Assembly cannot claim that
the international outlook has grown perceptiby
better as result of that business Still, neither
has the outlook grown perceptibly worse, and
that In itself is a fact containing some measure
of encouragement. It is fact attributable IN
no small part to the way In which the vast
majority has continued to hold fast together
on every major issue. To that extent, the men
Of the Kremlin have once again found them
selves hammering away futilely at an over
whelming moral coalition in the U. Nan ex-
perience that may have more than little Sig
nifcance in terms of deterring them from new
adventures in aggression
In any event, throughout the Assembly's
three-month session, the Soviet Union has SUI
fered one rebuff after another, without winning
a single victory. On some of the issues-sucn
as its proposal for horse-trading deal on new
u N. memberships, its effort to block Greeces
election to the Security Council, and the
af III
up to its treaty with Nationalist China-it has
lost out by relatively narrow margins. But on
the two most important questions OF all-dls-
armament and Korea-it has been most en-
phatically defeated Thus, in its attempt to
shift the truce talks from Panmunjom to Paris
"a move that would have enabled it to paralyze
the proceedings with the veto-it has been able
10 marshal the support of only its own bloc OF
I'VE votes against the massive opposition OF 81
nations. including India Similarly, it has been
thrown back on its heels by the overwhelming
rejection of its phony arms plan and the over
whelming backing OF the Western plan for
step-by-step control and reduction Of armed
forces and ornaments of every kind, incluolng
atomic.
OF cpurse, these decisions in themselves have
solved AnOthing The worlds grave problems
still retaain aand theethreateof another terrible
war seems therefore to be as big as ever. Never
theless the huge majority OF the U. N. mas AGAIN
demonstrated its unity, and the unity represents
o moral force that ought not to be unoereSti-
mated. The men of the Kremlin are not SO
all-powerful that they can afford to laugn u OH.
indeed together with the growing defensive
might of the west, it may yet be enough-assum"
ing that it continues to hold together-to per-
suade them eventually to change their policies
in a way that will make real peace possible.
In that respect, the Assemblys Paris session
NAV well have achieved something mucn more
constructive than can be discerned IN Its non
spectacular record.