Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-10

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thrown the transatlantic allies
back into each others arms. They
cannot. after all, go their own
ways; reality has broken in; it is
the morning after.
So far they have done no more
than pledge themselves again to
do together what they should have
been doing for years. There is no
surety yet that they will do it.
The American Congress will
have the last word on thesharing
of military secrets by the United
States and "other friendly coun-
tries as well as Britain. And the
"other friendly countries" them
selves will have the next word, in
the North Atlantic Treaty Organi-
cation, on the nomination of the
United States and Britain as the
sole trustees of the nuclear deter
rent.
important Question
All the novel questions of
strategy and preparedness within
the frame of the so-called nuclear
stalemate or stand-off have still
to be answered.
. Has the continuance of tactical
atomic weapons really made war
without suicide possible again, so
that creeping aggression or black
mail can be countered without
counting Armageddon?
. What balance should the At
lantic forces hold between the new
weapons and the old, and how
should the burdens be shared
among the allies?
Q And while the deterrent is kept
FURNISHED, as it must be. in all it's
guises, what policies should the>
allies pursue together to keep the
peace?
The end must not be forgotten
while the means are being willed
afresh; it is still true, as Sir Win
ston Churchill said, that I'VE arm
to barley"
F.. These are the old. familiar
agenda. What then is the founda-
ton for the hypothesis that this
time, after a few days talk in
Washington. these things may
possibly be done and these ques-
tons answered?
The hope does not rest, 1t
should be emphasized, merely upon
the proud return of a tacitly pen
itent Britain to its place on the
bridge. Nor does it rest only on
the overdue realization that the
end of the costly long haul for
safety is not, after all. with Rus
STA ebullient. nearly in sight yet.
1t is based rather upon the i'm
preston of a real awakening in
the United States, upon whose
ultimate protection the freedom
of the worlds free countries en-
tirely depends. Deeply shocked by
the Russian advances and by their
own setbacks. diplomatic as well
as technical, the Americans. who
have spent so much on their own
and the worlds defense. have now
to answer two questions: Can the
Americans trust themselves, and
can their allies trust them?
Service Of Reossuronce
The purpose of the new alli-
ance" vaguely sketched in the
Washington declaration is to give
and get new assurances: That the
alliance will be real, in military
research and development, in the
defense arrangements across the
world and in diplomacy: that the
deterrent power of the allies
(Which is basically American
power will in fact be available
in case of need for their common
security; and. most significantly.
that 1T will not be used by any
nation for purposes other than
individual and collective self
defense"
In Europe the new alliance will.
in fact. be the old alliance: That
is, NATO. Last year-which will
surely go down as the year of
illusions-Western statesmen were
looking round for new work for
NATO to do. Now it is seen that
the decisive need still is for NATO
to fulfill properly its basic task
of defense and deterrence.
Success in this requires first,
and urgently. a solution of the
strategic and tactical problems
posed by the new weapons, and