Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XXV, Organization of Foreign Policy; Information Policy; United Nations; Scientific Matters

186. Memorandum From Secretary of State Rusk to President Kennedy¹

Washington, October 18, 1961.

SUBJECT

• Follow-up on Your Address to the United Nations General Assembly—United Nations Aspects

Your address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, 1961 contained several specific proposals for action by the General Assembly, action in which you indicated the intention of the United States to play a major role. A brief status report on each of these proposals is set forth below, with a reference to National Security Action Memorandum (NSAM) No. 101² included in parentheses after the heading of each proposal. Wherever possible an estimate as to the timing of General Assembly action has been included. However, the General Assembly has not yet established a firm order of priority of consideration of items nor begun action on any of the substantive items on the agenda, making timing difficult to assess accurately at this time.

I. Successor for Secretary General Hammarskjold (Item A.1 of NSAM 101)

The United States has been holding intensive consultations with a “middle group” of United Nations delegates from key Latin American, African, Asian and European countries in an effort to work out an acceptable formula for appointing a single successor to Dag Hammarskjold who would have the full powers of the Secretary General under Chapter XV of the United Nations Charter. There has been tentative agreement with this group on a formula whereby the successor would select a group of Under Secretaries from the principal geographic regions to assist and advise him. The details of this formula, to which the Soviet reaction has thus far been negative, are still being discussed with the “middle group” in an effort to obtain firmer agreement and more precise definitions of the relationship between the Under Secretaries and the Secretary General. U Thant of Burma appears to enjoy the broadest support for the post of Secretary General.

II. Review and Revision of the Composition of United Nations Bodies (Item A.2 of NSAM 101)

In connection with the handling of the Chinese representation issue at the 16th General Assembly, the United States has been consulting widely on the desirability of establishing a committee of the General Assembly to examine not only the Chinese representation question but also the broader problems of criteria for UN membership and the composition of the Security Council and ECOSOC. Reactions to this proposal have been mixed. Our consultations are continuing.

III. Strengthening the Peace Keeping Capacity of the United Nations (Items A.3 and 4 of NSAM 101)

The Departments of State and Defense are studying specific means whereby the peace-keeping capability of the United Nations can be strengthened. Particular questions presently being studied are those relating to: (1), the use of United States military assistance funds for United Nations military training programs (2), the development of a United Nations military training center; and (3), the future policy and command control of United Nations forces.

The United States Delegation to the General Assembly will make a major speech as part of the First Committee debate on ways to strengthen the peace-keeping machinery of the United Nations. Several delegations have responded favorably in their general debate statements to your proposal for ear-marking forces for possible use by the United Nations.

Our Delegation is presently consulting in New York with a number of key “friendly delegations” (including the United Kingdom) and the United Nations Secretariat with a view to determining both the specific resolutions which will be required and the feasibility of submitting these resolutions at this session of the General Assembly. The process of consultation will include the convening of an unofficial caucus of a number of delegations in early November for a series of informal discussions on the specific proposals which we will have developed by that time. Subsequent action will depend in large measure on the results of this caucus.

IV. Problem of Colonialism (Item A.5 of NSAM 101)

There are two items on the agenda of the Plenary dealing with colonialism, one proposed by the USSR on the implementation of last year’s declaration on colonialism and one which carried over from the United States item on independence for Africa at the last session. Our Delegation in New York is negotiating with the United Kingdom and Australian delegations to develop a draft resolution which would be submitted under the Soviet Item. Our hope is that we can develop a resolution acceptable to us and the moderate Afro-Asians which would forestall the extreme resolution which the Soviets can be expected to introduce. We have received from the United Kingdom Delegation the text of a Nigerian draft resolution, moderate in tone and with a ten-year terminal target date for independence of African territories, which Nigerian Foreign Minister Wachuku hopes to introduce when the “United States Item” is considered. He also intends to request priority for the United States Item over the Soviet Item. The United Kingdom Delegation has received authorization to advise Wachuku it will vote for the operative paragraphs of his draft resolution, and we intend to take similar action. We cannot predict at this stage when the debates on colonialism will begin.

V. United States Disarmament Plan and the Problem of Nuclear Testing (Item B of NSAM 101)

1. Nuclear Test Ban Treaty—On September 28, 1961 the United States and the United Kingdom submitted to the General Assembly a resolution (Tab A) calling for the renewal of US–UK-USSR efforts to conclude at the earliest possible time a treaty on the cessation of all nuclear weapons tests in all environments under inspection, with control machinery adequate to ensure compliance with its terms.³ The draft resolution sets forth the basis on which negotiations should be conducted, calls on the negotiating states to report to the Disarmament Commission by March 1, 1962, and calls on all states to adhere to the treaty once it is concluded. We hope that our item on nuclear testing will be discussed simultaneously with the Indian item on testing as the first item on the agenda of the First Committee, which should begin its work about October 16. We also hope that our resolution will be acted on before an Indian resolution, although this is doubtful in view of the strong emotional sentiment for an indefinite uncontrolled moratorium on all nuclear testing which we expect will be called for in the Indian resolution. Such an indefinite, uncontrolled moratorium is unacceptable to us. We expect that Ambassador Stevenson will soon make a statement reaffirming our readiness to negotiate a test ban treaty.

2. Disarmament—On September 25, 1961 our Delegation in New York, in conformity with the remarks made in your speech to the Assembly, had the United States Declaration on Disarmament circulated. This was done in order that the General Assembly might consider this document as a guide for the negotiation of a program for general and complete disarmament in a peaceful world. As a practical matter it will not be possible to present this declaration as a resolution to be formally approved by the General Assembly. It will serve an extremely useful purpose in educating the Assembly regarding our position. Also, it will help to divert the Assembly’s attention from Soviet sloganeering and to focus instead on the practical problems posed by a comprehensive disarmament program. We are considering presenting to the Assembly a resolution which would (1) refer to the agreement on general principles reached with the Soviet Union and (2) recommend that the Disarmament Commission appoint a subcommittee comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Rumania, Sweden, Tunisia, UAR, UK, USSR, and the US, to undertake as a matter of urgency the negotiation of a disarmament agreement which would serve as a basis for world wide agreement among nations on general and complete disarmament under effective international control.

VI. United States Program for Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (Item C of NSAM 101)

We have developed and cleared with appropriate Agencies proposals for submission at the 16th General Assembly which embody the points you made regarding outer space. The point concerning prohibition of weapons of mass destruction in space or on celestial bodies is contained in the United States Declaration on Disarmament introduced at the General Assembly on September 25th. In addition, we are consulting with selected delegations at the United Nations to seek support for a resolution concerning the other points you made regarding outer space (Tab B)⁴ when the outer space item comes up for discussion in Committee I-probably not before the latter part of November. We plan to submit and seek maximum support for this resolution.

VII. United States Plan for United Nations Decade of Development⁵ (Item D of NSAM 101)

Subsequent to your speech, the Department has revised and cleared with appropriate Government agencies a detailed position paper on the United States initiative for strengthening the capacity of the United Nations to act in the fields of economic and social development (Tab C).⁶ Our representative made a major speech which was very well received on October 6 in Committee II in which he outlined our proposal for a UN Decade of Development. Consultations have been held at the General Assembly with friendly delegations and within the framework of the OECD in Paris and in London. Reactions have, on the whole, been positive.

Our present concept is that the Secretariat of the United Nations in cooperation with the Managing Director of the Special Fund (Paul Hoffman) would prepare and submit before the close of the present General Assembly detailed plans and recommendations for the organization and implementation of the UN Development Decade. Mr. Hoffman supports our proposals and stands prepared to act accordingly. We plan soon to introduce a resolution in Committee II embodying our objectives and assigning a particularly important role to the Special Fund.

Dean Rusk

1. Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda Series, NSAM 101, Follow-up, Box 332. Confidential.
2. Document 185.
3. Not printed. An amended version of this draft resolution was approved by the UN General Assembly on November 8 as Resolution 1649 (XVI), by a vote of 71 to 11, with 15 abstentions.
4. Not printed. On December 26 the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted an amended version as Resolution 1721 B (XVI) on international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.
5. Item VII is also printed in Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, vol. IX, Document 191.
6. Tab C, a position paper entitled “United States Economic and Social Initiatives at the 16th Session of the General Assembly—Organization of United Nations Development Decade,” September 19, is not printed.