Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-08-15
Ifs in London

When it opens tomorrow in London,
the 22-nation Suez conference will be
dealing with one of the graveSt interna-
tional situations in the past ten years.
None of us ought to underestimate that
fact, or be distracted from it by the
hoopla of our political conventions. What
we are confronted with is the very real
potential danger of a Middle Eastern
explosion that could imperil the peace of
the entire world
Fortunately, however, the crisis has
not yet become unmanageable. If any
thing, it has abated within the past week,
enough so to justify the kind of hope and
confidence that Secretary of State Dulles
has just expressed. In his judgment-a
personal conviction which he has carried
with him to London-the impending
meeting, even though it may not in itself
accomplish anything spectacular, should
at least succeed in pointing the way to a
peaceful solution.
Solid support for this moderately
optimistic view can be found in the fact
that the tempers of all parties concerned
seem to have undergone marked change
for the better since Egyptian President
Nasser "nationalized" the Suez Canal
Company. A fortnight ago. in the first
hot response to his action, both Britain
and France appeared ready to answer
him Immediately with armed power, and
he himself cut loose with Shockingly vio-
lent TRADES against the West. But since
then, as if Sobered by reflective after
thinking, or possibly by cautionary advice
from the Kremlin, he has begun to speak
temporarily, and he has even suggested
that he may be ready to cooperate in a
new agreement guaranteeing freedom of
passage through the vital waterway.
Similarly, while still taking security
measures, the French and BritiSh-whoSe
Labor Party has warned the Eden govern
ment against reSorting to force-have
played down tough military talk and put
emphasis on their desire for a peaceful
settlement that will genuinely protect
their e-anddeath interest in the
canals uninterrupted operations.
These less belligerent moods may
prove to be short-lived, of course. But
they nevertheless exist at the moment,
and If they can be kept alive, it should
certainly be possible to work out a mutu-
ally acceptable agreement. In any event,
as Mr.. Dulles has stressed, the American
objective in London will be to do every
thing that can be done, within reason,
to promote such an agreement. Basi-
cally, our country'S policy is in complete
accord with the Anglo-French view that
there must be dependable arrangements
inSuring an unimpeded flow of shipping
through the Suez. But the great troubling
question has to do with Just how this in
Surance is to be established. President
NaSSer, who is boycotting the conference,
is still very vague on the subject. Appar-
emily he is prepared to make only paper
promise and file it with the United
Nations. AS for an international operat-
ing authority, he has indicated that he
will never permit one to run the canal.
Meanwhile, all those who distrust his
intentions have insisted that an effective
authority of some sort must be set up.
This is the basic issue to be dealt
with in London. Quite obviously, espe-
cially in view of the emotionaliSm that
agitateS and diStortS the whole situation,
a solution is not likely to be found either
soon or easily. Yet, if all sides are
honestly in favor of just, workable and
peaceful settlement, if Colonel Nasser has
no sinister motives, and if Russia does
not wish to see strife in the Middle East,
then patient diplomacy and negotiation
should be able to fashion firm agree
ment that would establish the essential
international guarantees and help Egypts
economy without in any real sense
impinging on its sovereignty.