REGIONAL ARRANGEMENTS INTRODUCTION The articles of the Charter of the United Nations which deal with regional arrangements are intended to mesh into the system of international security established on a universal basis such existing or future regional instrumentalities as might serve to further its objectives without detracting from its authority and effectiveness. The United States and the other American Republics have had a special interest in the maintenance of the inter-American system, which has demonstrated its usefulness in preserving the peace and security of the Western Hemisphere and in advancing its welfare. This system had been in process of development for more than half a century and had only recently, in March, 1945 attained full maturity in the Act of Chapultepec. Moreover, various countries in Europe, especially since 1942, have made alliances in the interest' of their own peace and security, and seven Arabic-speaking countries, on March 22, 1945, formed the League of Arab States. All of these countries, and others represented at the Conference, individually and collectively, were deeply concerned with the problem of their security in a world which, for the second time within a generation, had been devastated by a great world struggle. These nations could not be expected to abandon instruments of regional cooperation which they considered essential to their security, but they all recognized the necessity of laying the foundations of an organization which would give hope of maintaining peace on a universal basis. Hence the problem arose of integrating regional arrangements and agencies with the establishment of a universal security organization. Articles 51 to 54 of the Charter are designed to effect this integration. THE DUMBARTON OAKS PROPOSALS The Dumbarton Oaks conversations faced squarely the issue of the relationship between regional arrangements and a general interna tional organization. It was held imperative to give the proposed world organization genuine and overall authority to deal with the problems of war and peace. At the same time the value of regional arrangements was clearly recognized. The principle was accepted that regional instrumentalities which promote peace and security, and which stimulate confidence in the success of collective security arrangements, will, if properly integrated within the general framework, serve to strengthen the organization itself and further its purposes. This was the genesis of Chapter VIII, Section C, on Regional Arrangements, of the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals. This section stipulated that nothing in the Charter should preclude the existence of regional arrangements or agencies, provided they were "consistent with the purposes and principles of the Organization". It was recognized that regional organizations might play a constructive role in the settlement of "local disputes. . . either on the initiative of the states concerned or by reference from the Security Council". Similarly the Security Council could utilize regional arrangements for enforcement action, provided that such enforcement action should be undertaken only when authorized by the Council and that the latter should be kept fully informed of all action taken or contemplated under regional arrangements or by regional agencies. It was recognized that the Council must have a general authority over regional security machinery in order to prevent such arrangements from developing independently and thus possibly pursuing different ends. In other words, this provision was intended to coordinate the functions of a regional grouping with those of a general organization, and at the same time establish the final authority of the latter. AMENDMENTS APPROVED AT SAN FRANCISCO The United Nations Conference on International Organization made several changes in the foregoing provisions on regional arrangements, without altering the basic principle of universality accepted by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference. Amendments Proposed The proposals submitted at San Francisco for amending this section fell largely under three categories. There were some proposals from the Latin American delegations which raised the problem of the extent of autonomy in respect of pacific settlement of disputes and enforcement action under regional arrangements, as well as with respect to regional arrangements in the social, economic, and cultural spheres. The similar interest of the members of the League of Arab States in this latter aspect of regionalism was manifested in an Egyptian proposal for a separate chapter to deal with arrangements of a permanent character contemplating international cooperation on a comprehensive basis among states of a region. Likewise Australia submitted a proposal whereby the parties to regional arrangements would be authorized to take measures for their peace and security if the Security Council failed to act and did not authorize regional enforcement action. A similar Belgian proposal recognized the right of automatic action under regional arrangements in case of urgent necessity, but provided for the authority of the Security Council to suspend the execution of such action. Another series of amendments proposed to approach the regional problem through modification of the voting procedure in the Security Council. Suggestions of this nature which were presented by Australia, Belgium and Venezuela proposed to qualify the so-called "veto" power of the permanent members in the case of regional enforcement action. A third group of amendments was concerned with the specific problem of pacts of mutual assistance like the Anglo-Soviet treaty of May 26, 1942 and similar treaties, and of their integration within the framework of the General Organization. Although these mutual assistance pacts fell within the general denomination of "Regional Arrangements", it was recognized that they were concerned primarily with the problem of military security. Amendments with respect to this important matter were proposed by the Soviet Union, France, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Turkey. Essentially two issues were involved in this problem: (1) the permanent inherent right of self-defense, individual or collective, against a possible aggressor; and (2) the provisional or temporary right of the parties to such pacts to take preventive action against a possible aggression on the part of states which had fought against the United Nations during the present war. Amendments Approved In order to meet the legitimate desires which these amendments represented, the Conference in San Francisco adopted three principal modifications of the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals: (1) an amendment to Chapter VIII, Section A, Paragraph 3 (Article 33 of the Charter) adding regional agencies or arrangements to the processes of pacific settlement, and a closely related amendment to Chapter VIII, Section C, Paragraph 1 (Article 52 of the Charter) providing that parties to regional arrangements should attempt to solve local disputes through regional arrangements; (2) an amendment to Chapter VIII, Section C, Paragraph 2 (Article 53 of the Charter) stipulating the right to take preventive action under regional arrangements against renewal of aggressive policy on the part of enemy states; and (3) an amendment to Chapter VIII, Section B, adding a new Paragraph 12 (Article 51 of the Charter) recognizing the right of individual and collective self-defense against armed attack. The foregoing modifications were all submitted to the Conference by the four Sponsoring Powers and were accepted by the other delegations as constituting an adequate amalgamation and reconciliation of the numerous amendments dealing with regional arrangements. With the adoption of these alterations in the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals, the role of the regional arrangement in the maintenance of peace and security within the framework of the world organization was clarified Regional Arrangements and Pacific Settlement With respect to procedures for pacific settlement, the phrase "resort to regional agencies and arrangements" was introduced in Paragraph 3 of Chapter VIII, Section A (Article 33 of the Charter) in order expressly to recognize that an appeal in the first instance to collective procedures of pacific settlement which are available to the members of a regional community is an appropriate method of peaceful solution, along with the standard means mentioned in the original text. The modification introduced in Chapter VIII, Section C, Paragraph 1 (Article 52 of the Charter) constituted the addition of a sentence providing that the member states entering into regional arrangements or constituting regional agencies "shall make every effort to achieve pacific settlement of local disputes through such regional arrangements or by such regional agencies before referring them to the Security Council”. It is also provided that the Security Council shall encourage the development of pacific settlement of local disputes through regional arrangements or by regional agencies. To insure the paramount authority of the Council and its right to concern itself if necessary with disputes of this character, an additional sentence was added to this article in which it is stipulated that the foregoing provision "in no way impairs the application of Articles 34 and 35”. The first of these empowers the Security Council to investigate any dispute, or any situation which may lead to international friction, and the second provides that any state may bring to the attention of the General Assembly or the Security Council any dispute or any situation likely to lead to international friction. These modifications make it clear that regional means of pacific settlement such as those provided for in the inter-American system, including the procedure of collective consultation, shall be given the fullest possible opportunity to attempt a solution of local disputes and that the Security Council is to encourage and facilitate such an attempt. It is definitely recognized nevertheless that there shall be no impairment of the authority of the Security Council to determine, at its own instance or at the request of a member or non-member state, whether the dispute endangers international peace, or to proceed to take other measures should local remedies fail to settle the dispute. Regional Arrangements and Mutual Assistance Pacts The problem of integrating the special mutual assistance treaties within the framework of the Charter was one of particular significance. In order to deal with proposed amendments relating to such treaties, which were designed to prevent a recurrence of the policy of aggression by the present enemy states, the four Sponsoring Powers. and France introduced, and the Conference approved, an amendment of, Chapter VIII, Section C, Paragraph 2 of the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals, which became Article 53 of the Charter. In this |