YouSaid · the spoken record

Acheson

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS ACHESON

lines on the record: 147
first: 1949-09-24
most recent: 1952-09-24
sittings or episodes: 4
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I have every belief and every confidence that this challenge and this defiance of the authority of the United Nations will be crushed as it deserves to be, .and that thereafter the future of this small and gallant country may be restored where it belongs — to the custody of its own people under the guidance of the United Nations. From the outset, the United States has given its full support to the actions of the General Assembly and of the Security Council. We shall continue to support the decisions of the United Nations as the future course of events unfolds. We shall do our full part to maintain the impressive unity which has so far been demonstrated in connexion with Korea. 63. The aggressive attack upon the Republic of Korea created the urgent necessity for the military neutralization of the island of Formosa.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“Among the immediately pressing problems which require the attention of the General Assembly are the aggression against the Republic of Korea and the problem of Formosa. 61. In a special and, indeed, a unique sense, the Republic of Korea is a responsibility of the United Nations. The actions of the General Assembly, at its second and third sessions in 1947 and 1948, outlined the United Nations aspirations for the future of Korea. Before the aggression of last June, the failure to achieve those purposes had been a matter of deep disappointment and of deep concern. The aggression of 25 June raised a new challenge, which was met by the stout action to which I have already referred. 62.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“As our efforts to strengthen the collective security system become more and more effective, and as tensions begin to ease, we believe that the United Nations will be increasingly important as a means of facilitating and encouraging positive and productive negotiation. 58. The United States is ready and will always be •ready and willing to negotiate with a sincere desire to solve problems and we shall continue to hope that some time negotiation will not be merely an occasion for propaganda. 59. Solving the many difficult problems in the world must, of course, be a gradual process. It will not be achieved miraculously, it will not be achieved overnight, by sudden dramatic gestures. It will come about step by step. We must seek to solve such problems as we can, and we must endure the others until they, too, can be solved. 60.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“The steps we take to strengthen our collective security are not only essential to the survival of the United Nations, but will contribute positively toward its development. The close ties of a common defence are developing an added cohesion among regional groups. This is a significant step toward a closer relationship among nations and is part of the process of growth by which we are moving towards a larger sense of community under the United Nations. 57. The United States also attaches importance to the universal character of the United Nations, which enables it to serve as a point of contact between the Soviet Union and the rest of the world during this period of tension.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“But, as the United Nations strengthens its collective security system, the possibilities of this change in Soviet policy will increase. If this does not occur, the increase in our defensive strength will be the means of ensuring our survival and protecting the essential values of our societies. But our hope is that a strong collective security system will make genuine negotiation possible, and that this will in turn lead to a co-operative peace. 56. It is the firm belief of the people and the Government of the United States that the United Nations will play an increasingly important role in the world during the period ahead, as we try to move safely through the present tensions. I have already stressed the importance we attach to the United Nations as the framework of an effective system of collective security.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“As we succeed in building the necessary economic and defensive military strength, it will become clear to them, we hope, that the non-Soviet world will neither collapse nor be dismembered piecemeal. Some modification in their aggressive policies may follow, if they then recognize that the best interests of the Soviet Union require a co-operative relationship with the outside world. 55. Time may have its effect. It is only thirty-three years since the overthrow of the Czarist regime in Russia, and this is a short time in history. Like many other social and political movements before it, the Soviet Revolution may change. In doing so, it may rid itself of the policies which now prevent the USSR from living as a good neighbour with the rest of the world. We have no assurance that this will take place.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“We need this defensive strength against further aggression, in order to pass through this time of tension without catastrophe, and to reach a period when genuine negotiation may take its place as the normal means of settling disputes. 53. This perspective is reflected in the proposals of the Secretary-General for a twenty-year Programme [A/1304], a perspective from which we can derive the steadiness and patience required of us. This perspective takes into account the possibility that the USSR Government may not be inherently and unalterably committed to standing in the way of peace and that it may some day accept a live-and-let-live philosophy. 54. The Soviet leaders are realists, in some respects at least.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“Fourthly, the establishment by the General Assembly of a committee to study and report on means which the United Nations might use through collective action — including the use of armed force — to carry out the purposes and principles of the Charter. 50. I shall request that these proposals should be added as an item to the agenda. It is the hope of my delegation that the General Assembly will act on these and other suggestions which may be offered for the strengthening of our collective security system. 51. In doing so, we must keep clearly before the world the purpose of our collective security system, so that no one can make any mistake about it. 52.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“Thirdly, a plan under which each Member State would designate within its national armed forces a United Nations unit or units, to be specially trained and equipped and continuously maintained in readiness for prompt service on behalf of the United Nations. To assist in the organization, training and equipping of such units, we shall suggest that a United Nations military advisor should be appointed. Until the forces provided for under Article 43 are made available to the United Nations, the availability of these national units will be an important step toward the development of a worldwide security system. 49.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“To this end, the United States delegation is placing before the General Assembly a number of recommendations designed to increase the effectiveness of United Nations action against aggression. 45. This programme will include the following proposals. 46. First, provision for the calling of an emergency session of the General Assembly upon twenty-four hours’ notice if the Security Council is prevented from acting upon a breach of the peace or an act of aggression. 47. Secondly, the establishment by the General Assembly of a security patrol, a peace patrol, to provide immediate and independent observation and reporting from any area in which international conflict threatens, upon the invitation or with the consent of the State to be visited. 48.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“Article 24 of the Charter gives the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace, and" this is the way it should be. But if the Security Council is not able to act because of the obstructive tactics of a permanent member, the Charter does not leave the United Nations impotent. The obligation of all Members to take action to maintain or restore the peace does not disappear because of a veto. The Charter, in Articles 10, 11 and 14, also vests in the General Assembly authority and responsibility for matters affecting international peace. The General Assembly can and should organize itself to discharge its responsibility promptly and decisively if the Security Council is prevented from acting. 44.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“One of the fundamental purposes of the United Nations, expressed in Article 1 of the Charter, is that it shall “take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of peace”. 41. The action of the United Nations to put down the aggression which began on 25 June against the Republic of Korea was exactly the effective collective measure which was required. It marked a turning point in history, for it showed the way to an enforceable rule of law among nations. 42. The world waits now to see whether we can build on the start we have made. The United Nations must move forward energetically to develop a more adequate system of collective security, for if it does not move forward it will move back. 43.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“But even this conduct has not made war inevitable — we, for our part, do not accept the idea that war is inevitable. But it has lengthened the shadow which war casts over us. This fact cannot be obscured by propaganda which baits the hooks with words of peace, and in doing so profanes the highest aspirations of mankind. 39. There is only one real way the world can maintain peace and security in the face of this conduct. That is by strengthening its system of collective security. Our best hope of peace lies in our ability to make it absolutely plain to potential aggressors that aggression does not succeed. The security of those nations which want peace, and the security of the United Nations itself, demands the strength to prevent further acts of aggression. 40.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“There is nothing unusual in the fact that those who believe in some particular social order want to spread it throughout the world. But, as one of my predecessors, Secretary of State Adams, said of the efforts of an earlier Russian ruler, Czar Alexander, to establish the Holy Alliance, the Emperor “finds a happy coincidence between the dictates of his conscience and the interests of his Empire”. The combination of this international ambition and the Soviet reliance on force and violence — though it be camouflaged as civil war — is a barrier to peaceful relations. 37. This conduct conflicts with the Charter of the United Nations. It conflicts with resolution 290 (IV), headed “Essentials of peace”, adopted at our last session. It has created a great and terrible peril for the rest of the world. 38.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“While other countries were demobilizing and converting their industries to peaceful purposes after the war, the USSR and the territories under its control pushed forward preparations for war. The Soviet Union has forced other countries to re-arm for their own defence. 35. Fourthly, the use by Soviet leaders of the international communist movement for direct and indirect aggression has been a great source of trouble in the world. With words which play upon honest aspirations and grievances, the Soviet leaders have manipulated the people of other States as pawns of Russian imperialism. 36. Fifthly, the Soviet use of violence to impose its will and its political system upon other peoples is a threat to the peace.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“Charles Malik, stated it precisely at the fourth session when he said: “There can be no greater disagreement than when one wants to eliminate your existence altogether.” 33. Secondly, the shroud of secrecy which the Soviet leaders have wrapped around the people and the States they control is a great barrier to peace. This has nourished suspicion and misinformation, in both directions. It deprives governments of the moderating influence of contact between peoples. It stands in the way of the mutual knowledge and confidence which is essential to disarmament. 34. Thirdly, the rate at which the Soviet Union has been building arms and armies, far beyond any requirement of defence, has gravely endangered peace throughout the world.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“That obstacle has been created by the policies of the Soviet Union. 30. We should be very clear in our minds about this obstacle. It is not the rise of the USSR as a strong national Power which creates difficulties. It is not the existence of different social and economic systems in the world. Nor is it, I firmly believe, any desire on the part of the Russian people for war. The root of our trouble is to be found in the new imperialism, directed by the leaders of the Soviet Union. 31. To be more explicit, the USSR Government raises five barriers to peace. 32. First, Soviet efforts to bring about the collapse of the non-Soviet world, and thereby to fulfil a prediction of Soviet theory, have made genuine negotiation very difficult. The representative of Lebanon, Mr.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“If by nothing else, it has been answered by the United Nations action against aggression in Korea. Blood is thicker than ink. But the pall of fear has been cast over our hopes and our achievements. 28. What is the reason for this fear? Why is it that we have been unable to achieve peace and security through the United Nations in these five years? Why has there not been the co-operation among the great Powers which was to have buttressed the United Nations? Why have we not been able to reach an agreement on the control of atomic energy and the regulation of armaments? What has been the obstacle to a universal system of collective security? 29. We have been confronted with many and complex problems, but the main obstacle to peace is easy to identify, and there should be no mistake in anyone’s mind about it.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“The lifetime of many of us here in this room has seen the rise and fall of empires, the growth of powerful nations, the stirrings of great continents with new-born hope, the conquest of space and great inventions, both creative and destructive. We have lived in a century of alternating war and hope. 26. Now, the foundation of our hope is the United Nations, Five years ago we declared at San Francisco our determination “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”; we declared our faith in fundamental human rights, our belief in justice and social progress. During the years that have intervened, some of us have worked hard to bring this about. 27. There is no longer any question whether the United Nations will survive, whether it will suffer the fate of the League of Nations. This question has been answered.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“The heroism of those men gives us this opportunity to meet and this opportunity to act. Our task is to be worthy of them and of the opportunity they have given us. 23. We meet also with full knowledge of the great anxiety which clutches at the hearts of the people of this earth. Men and women everywhere are weighted down with fear, fear of war, fear that man may be begetting his own destruction. 24. But man is not a helpless creature who must await an inexorable fate. It lies within our power to take action which, God willing, can avert the catastrophe whose shadow hangs over us. That terrible responsibility rests upon every man and every woman in this room. At the end of this meeting each of us must answer to his own conscience on what each of us has done here. 25. How have we come to this condition of fear and of jeopardy?”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“This session of the General Assembly is a session of decision. Before us lies opportunity for action which can save the hope of peace, of security, of well-being and of justice for generations to come. Before us also lies opportunity for drift, for irresolution, for effort feebly made. In this direction is disaster. The choice is ours. It will be made whether we act or whether we do not act. 22. The peoples of the world know this. They will eagerly follow every word spoken here. Our words will reach them mingled with the sound of the battle now raging in Korea. There, men are dying, as our President said yesterday [277th meeting], are fighting and dying under the banner of the United Nations. Our Charter, born of the sacrifices of millions in war, is being consecrated anew at this very moment to the work of peace.”
1950-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 5 (1950)
“Acheson pledged unreserved support for and devotion to a concerted effort to that end, and appealed to all Members to proceed with appreciation of the limits of what they could be expected to accomplish, with confidence in the long-term values of patience, and with reliance upon the power of common sense in international affairs.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“But those treaties were made pursuant to the principles of collective action to resist aggression embodied in the Charter. 61. Methods and procedures to give effect to that principle varied with circumstances. The Members of the United Nations, and the General Assembly itself, should constantly study the means which would lead to the stabilization of peace. 62. In the final analysis, the security problem was a universal problem. It could not be solved except on a universal basis, through the United Nations. 63. The business of the General Assembly was to make its contribution to the solution, in the common interest, of the great problems urgently confronting the nations of the world. On behalf of the United States, Mr.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“Yet the assured and durable peace which mankind had sought in victory in 1945 and still sought in the world had not been attained. 59. In the Charter the nations had pledged themselves to settle their problems by peaceful means, and to build up the conditions essential for peace. Disregarding those obligations, a small group had persisted in policies threatening other members of the international community. As a result a profound sense of insecurity had enveloped large areas of the world. 60. To meet that threat of insecurity in Europe, the United States had joined with members of the North Atlantic community in a treaty which made dear, in advance, the determination of the parties to resist armed attack on any of them. The American Republics had undertaken similar commitments under the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“The Commission should continue to formulate such plans in order that they might be available whenever the opportunity to utilize them arose. 57. The United States Government could be depended upon to contribute fully to the creation of the necessary conditions of confidence and, with their attainment, to play its full role in the regulation and reduction, under effective safeguards, of armaments and armed forces. The policy of the United States in that important matter was in full conformity with General Assembly resolution 190 (III) of 3 November 1948, which looked towards the composition of differences among the major Powers and the establishment of lasting peace. 58. In the perspective of history, the first four years of the United Nations had been marked by great advances in international co-operation among nations.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“It was ready to discuss any proposal advanced in good faith for effective international control of atomic energy and for effective prohibition, but unless and until the Soviet Union demonstrated a willingness to cooperate in the world community and, in the field of atomic energy, gave evidence of such a willingness by agreeing to a truly effective, enforceable system of international control and prohibition, there was no hope that a basis for agreement could be found. 56. On the subject of the regulation and reduction of conventional armaments, all were aware that there was no immediate prospect of universal agreement. The work done by the Commission for Conventional Armaments had helped to provide a useful start towards the regulation and reduction of armaments and armed forces when that became practicable.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“As one of the six Powers which had sponsored the establishment of the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, the United States, in response to the request formulated by the General Assembly in its resolution 191 (III), was endeavouring, through consultation among the sponsoring Powers, to find a basis for agreement. It held that that offered the best prospect of determining whether any hope remained for finding such a basis.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“It was clear from the resolutions passed by the General Assembly on the subject that the overwhelming majority of the Members of the United Nations also supported effective control and effective prohibition. 54. Because the Soviet Union refused either to accept the United Nations plan or to put forth any other effective plan of control and prohibition, the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission had again reported (A/993) that it was in an impasse. The Commission had found that its discussions were not enlarging areas of agreement. On the contrary, they were hardening existing differences. It had concluded, therefore, that it could do nothing practicable or useful until the sponsoring Powers reported that a basis for agreement existed. 55.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“The United States as an interested party would accept as binding the view of the International Court of Justice. 51. That issue involved more than the violation of terms in a treaty. It affected the rights and freedoms of all the people who lived in those three States. 52. The United States Government deeply regretted that no agreement had been reached in the United Nations on the international control of atomic energy and the prohibition of atomic weapons. 53. The United States was continuing and would continue to strive for an effective system of international control of atomic energy which would make effective the prohibition of atomic weapons. That was why it supported the Atomic Energy Commission’s plan of control and prohibition as approved by the General Assembly in its resolution 191 (III) of 4 November 1948.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“The Assembly was confronted with a concrete issue in that field namely, the question of observance of human rights in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. The treaties of peace with those countries set forth the procedures for the settlement of disputes arising under those treaties. Within the preceding few weeks Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania had refused to follow those procedures. Since, however, the three Governments sought to support their position on legal grounds, the United States favoured submission to the International Court of Justice of the question whether they were under an obligation to carry out the treaty procedures. It was to be hoped that Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania would not in advance refuse to accept the opinion of the Court and to act in accordance with it.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“48. The recommendations of the Economic and Social Council on that subject were on a bolder scale than anything undertaken in the past through international organizations. They offered effective tools in the struggle for increased production and ever-widening opportunities for employment. They deserved careful consideration and approval in the common interest, 49. The Charter recognized that social progress and higher standards of life grew from larger freedom. Man did not live by bread alone. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of the greatest achievements of the third session of the Assembly, constituted a long stride towards freeing men from tyranny or arbitrary constraint. The United States attached great importance to that aspect of the work of file United Nations. 50.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“In every field — health, education, agriculture, industry, and others — particular projects had demonstrated that, with the support of local authorities, a small number of experts could bring great benefits to large numbers of people. Those efforts were not for the selfish advantage of any one country. They were for the common good, 47. Poverty, malnutrition and disease went hand-in-hand, and their existence was a threat to the prosperity and stability of the rest of the world. National economic development must come primarily from the efforts of the people concerned, working with their own national resources. But their efforts could be leavened and the process speeded-up by international co-operation to assist the less developed areas to acquire the knowledge, skills and techniques by which their efforts could be made more productive.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“The Charter expressed the determination of the peoples of the United Nations “to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom”. 45. The Economic and Social Council had laid before the General Assembly, a programme for co-operative action by the United Nations and the specialized agencies for rendering technical assistance in the economic development of underdeveloped areas (A/983). 46. The United States Government would give full support to such a programme to be launched by the United Nations, in which international action would supplement and support the steps taken by the national Governments to improve economic and social conditions.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“In Indonesia, the United Nations was witnessing an example of the development of a colonial people to freedom and independence and, through cooperative efforts of both parties at the Round Table Conference at The Hague of a voluntary association for mutual advantage. 43. Progress was being made in the realization of the Charter’s objectives regarding non-self-governing peoples both in colonial areas and in those under trusteeship. The United States Government would continue to support the aspirations of those people who were working out their destinies in the spirit of the Charter, to the end that they might achieve self-government or independence at the earliest practicable date. 44. There was another field in which the concept of international public interest was becoming increasingly evident.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“The development of that precedent might well assist the settlement of various other political problems by special agreement, in advance, to accept recommendations of the General Assembly or the Security Council, or, in legal questions, the determination of the International Court of Justice. Through such advance agreement additional services would and should be rendered from time to time by the General Assembly and other organs of the United Nations. 42. The United States Government felt a deep interest in the varied activities of the United Nations affecting, the peoples of the world who had not yet become fully self-governing.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“The Assembly should make every effort to reach agreement on the major lines of a workable plan for the solution of that important problem. 40. The General Assembly’s responsibility for the disposal of the former Italian colonies arose from the agreement of the four major signatories to the peace treaty with Italy to accept the Assembly’s recommendation. Such a grant of a new power of decision to an organ of the United Nations, by express prior agreement to the responsible parties, opened a promising avenue towards enhanced usefulness of the United Nations. 41.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“Another problem of great complexity which the General Assembly had not solved at its previous session, but which appeared ready for solution, was the question of the disposal of the former Italian colonies. The exhaustive discussion at the third session had helped to clarify the issues, to bring out new information and to enable many Members to develop their views on the matter. At the fourth session, the General Assembly should work "out plans for a united and independent Libya, to be carried to completion in not more than three or four years. 38. It was the view of the United States Government that the Assembly should agree on provisions enabling the peoples of Eritrea to join in political association with neighbouring Governments, and the peoples of Somaliland to enjoy the benefits of the Trusteeship System. 39.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“It was of the highest importance that the States immediately concerned should recognize and accept their governmental responsibilities with respect to the problem. As an interim measure, the General Assembly should make the necessary provision for the maintenance of those refugees until the time when they could again become self-sustaining members of the Near Eastern communities. 36. It was the hope of the peoples of all faiths that the General Assembly would be able to act successfully upon the report of the Conciliation Commission in respect to Jerusalem. In the view of the United States Government, it should adopt a practical plan for a permanent international regime in the Jerusalem area and for the protection of, and free access to, the Holy Places. 37.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“While no agreed settlement between the parties had so far been reached, there was nevertheless hope that progress would be made in moving beyond the armistice stage to a real and permanent peace. 34. Eventual agreement between the parties was essential for the political and economic stability of the area. Later during the session the Conciliation Commission would present a report, including the recommendations of the Economic Survey Mission which was in the Near East. On the basis of that report, the General Assembly should be able to provide such machinery as might be necessary further to facilitate and encourage agreement among the parties. The United States stood ready to give its full support and assistance to that effort. 35. The plight of the Palestinian refugees presented to the world a pressing humanitarian problem.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“The authority of the commission to observe and report on the actual facts might be sufficient to prevent open hostilities. That was the fervent hope of all patriotic Koreans. 31. In accordance with its established policy, the United States would continue to give full support to the work of the Commission on Korea. 32. Turning to the question of Palestine, Mr. Acheson said that it was a source of considerable satisfaction that the period of active hostilities in that country had been brought to a close by, the conclusion of armistice agreements between Israel and the several Arab States. The efforts of the Acting Mediator and his staff in that connexion were worthy of high praise. 33. Since the beginning of 1949 the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine had been carrying on its work.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“Despite serious obstacles, United Nations agencies had made a successful contribution to the creation of the Republic of Korea and had assisted it in its development. Unfortunately, the authorities of the northern portion of Korea had so far refused to permit the United Nations Commission to visit that region or to arrange for the unification of the country. 30. It was the view of the United States that a United Nations commission should continue to be stationed in Korea. Among the principal responsibilities of such a body should be to observe and report on any developments which might lead to military conflict in Korea, to use the influence of the United Nations to avert the potential threat of internal strife in, that troubled land, and to explore further the possibility of unification.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“Outside aid to the guerrillas must stop and Greece must be permitted to bind up its wounds. The session could provide further opportunity for continued and sincere efforts among interested parties to bring about that result. 28. Mr. Acheson believed that he expressed a desire widely shared in the Assembly when he voiced the hope that the USSR, which in the past had not participated in the Special Committee, would join in renewed consultations aimed at settling that persistent and serious problem. If the northern neighbours of Greece had come to realize that their own self-interest required respect for the recommendations of the United Nations and an adjustment of their relations with Greece, a rapid solution should be attainable. 29. A further matter in which the public interest had been deeply engaged for a long time was Korea.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“Even if the right answers to them were found, that would not by itself bring about the desired transformation in world affairs. Only out of a long series of such patient and often undramatic efforts could that transformation eventually be achieved. 27. With respect to the Greek question, the United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans had concluded that Yugoslavia had decreased, and perhaps even ceased, its aid to the Greek guerrillas, and that guerrilla activities in general were declining, but the danger still existed because of continuing aid, principally from Albania. It was timely for the Assembly to make a renewed effort to restore peace along the northern Greek border and to re-establish normal relations between Greece and all its northern neighbours.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“The major problems of the time could not be solved by national action alone, but required common action in the light of the common public interest. The increasing recognition of the concept of public interest in the field of international relations was a significant — though little heralded — fact of the twentieth century. 25. The sure vision of the leaders of the nations united in the previous war had given birth to the United Nations, a forum in which the international public interest could be fully expressed and applied in the solution of problems. 26. The questions which lay before the fourth session of the General Assembly affected vitally the general complex of world problems. Those questions should be faced soberly and practically.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“That warning applied to problems in the international field in the past months and years. It was true that the problems were serious, that they were bitter; and that they were not susceptible of any sudden and dramatic solutions. But it had not been proved that they would not eventually yield to the effects of time and patience and hard work. To the extent that they could not be solved for the time being, they must be endured; but there must be unceasing efforts to overcome them step by step. There were grounds for hoping that persistent effort, geared to the ever-present process of change in human affairs, would eventually produce a more hopeful and a more solid structure of world relationships than the existing one. 24.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“It recognized that some of them were of a terrible seriousness, but also that they were-deeply rooted in the experience and traditions of great peoples, in the philosophies of major politick movements, and in inertia — the inertia of institutions and conditions which intimately affected the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe. They were too deeply rooted, in many instances, to be rapidly overcome by persuasion or compromise or by isolated diplomatic gestures. 23. Many people, becoming aware of the depth of those problems, despaired of their solution by peaceful means. The United States had never shared and did not share that feeling. General Marshall had warned against what he called “fighting the problem” instead of applying oneself to its solution.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)
“Mr. ACHESON said that the fourth session of the General Assembly was opening at a time when the initial shocks and adjustments of the post-hostilities period had been generally absorbed into the lives of nations. The real shape of the major problems of the post-war era could at last be seen with greater distinctness. The nations were coming to grips in many practical and prosaic ways with their tasks in a world which was far from ideal. 22. The United States delegation had given much thought to the major problems which had agitated and dominated international life since the end of the recent war, and had done its best to analyze their nature and their significance.”
1949-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 4 (1949)