Disarmament Files, Lot 58 D 133
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for United
Nations Affairs (Hickerson) to the Secretary of State
top secret
[Washington,] October 5, 1951.
Subject: Regulation of Armed Forces and Armaments
Discussion:
You will recall that over the past several months, considerable effort both
in State and Defense has been devoted to the development of a program for
the regulation of armed forces and armaments. The general principles to
govern such a program have been approved in NSC 112. Simultaneously and independently, the U.K. has
developed a similar program.
About three weeks ago, I arranged with Sir Pierson Dixon that a
representative of the Foreign Office should come to Washington with a view
to coordinating the two programs. During the past week, we have engaged in
extended discussions with the British and have jointly drafted the attached
“Outline of Program for Regulation, Limitation and Balanced Reduction of All
Armed Forces and Armaments”. This paper goes as far as possible to meet the
British point of view without in any way altering the basic U.S. position as
set forth in NSC 112. The paper is
acceptable to the expert of the British Foreign Office, who believed that in
the light of the comments he had already received, it would be approved by
his government. We pointed out to the British that the paper at this time
does not represent a U.S. position and that you had not yet seen it.
I have informally transmitted a copy of the paper to Frank Nash,1 likewise explaining to him that you have not
yet seen the paper. Pending your approval of the paper, he is proceeding
informally to ascertain the reactions of Defense.
It is our view that the program should be advanced jointly by U.S., U.K. and
France. With this in mind, we would commence discussions with the French as
soon as possible after the program receives Presidential approval—perhaps
during the week of October 15. We contemplated presenting the program as
follows:
- 1.
- Identical statements containing a brief explanation of the program
would be released simultaneously by U.S., U.K., and France on or
about November 7. The President would issue the statement
here.
- 2.
- Simultaneously, the President would make a speech to the country
built on the statement and our willingness to disarm but our
unshakable determination to continue to build upon our strength
until Soviet good faith is proved and a dependable agreement enters
into force. Presumably, U.K. and France would take similar
steps.
- 3.
- The program would be elaborated in your statement and in the
[Page 534]
British and French
statements in the General Debate during the forthcoming General
Assembly. It would be important to arrange for you to speak in the
debate before Vishinsky speaks and I shall endeavor to do this as
soon as you approve this program.
- 4.
- We would request that the matter be considered by the General
Assembly as an additional item to be included on its agenda as a
matter of urgency and importance.
Recommendation:
In view of the extremely tight time schedule which we must follow in order to
reap the maximum benefits in the General Assembly from this program, I am
anxious that you should consider this program as soon as possible and let me
know if you approve it.
Concurrences:
This program has been approved by S/P, EUR,
Gordon Arneson, and myself.
Attachment:
“Outline of Program”.
[Annex]
Agreed United States–United Kingdom Working Level
Paper
top secret
[Washington, undated.]
Outline of Program for Regulation, Limitation and
Balanced Reduction of All Armed Forces and Armaments
1. The United States has proposed in this General Assembly a program for
regulation, limitation and balanced reduction of all armed forces and
armaments. We expect to introduce more detailed proposals in the new
unified commission which we hope will be set up as a result of the
recommendations of the General Assembly’s Committee of Twelve that
functions of the Atomic Energy Commission and the Commission for
Conventional Armaments be merged in a new unified commission which would
carry forward their work. The United States will merely outline its
views at this time, leaving the details for later presentation.
2. The United States proposes that such a disarmament program include the
following elements:
-
a.
- The objective should be to secure the regulation, limitation
and balanced reduction of all armed forces and armaments to a
level which would decrease substantially the possibility of
successful aggression, and thereby decrease the chances that
armed aggression would be used to further national
objectives.
-
b.
- In working out the regulation, limitation and balanced
reduction of armed forces and armaments, the following criteria
are examples
[Page 535]
of those
which might be used and which we would be prepared to consider:
- (1)
- Limiting the size of armed forces, including
para-military and security forces to 1 percent of
population, and establishing a ceiling for any one
country of 1 million.
- (2)
- Limiting stocks of military equipment for authorized
armed forces and restricting the portion of national
resources and industrial production which can be used
for military purposes, to say, 5 percent of the national
product, as contrasted with the much higher percentages
today.
- (3)
- Developing mutually agreed national programs, within
the overall limitations, concerning the composition of
armed forces and armaments that each country would
maintain.
-
c.
- There must be an adequate system of safeguards to ensure
observance of any acceptable disarmament program. The safeguards
should provide for the prompt detection of violations, while at
the same time causing the minimum necessary degree of
interference in the internal life of each country.
-
d.
- In the atomic energy field, the United Nations plan for
international control of atomic energy and the prohibition of
atomic weapons should continue to serve as the basis for any
program, unless and until a better and more effective plan can
be devised.
-
e.
- The program must be open for adherence to all States and
initially it must include at least those States whose military
resources are so substantial that their absence from the program
would endanger it.
-
f.
- Once a program for the regulation, limitation and balanced
reduction of all armed forces and armaments has been agreed upon
in the United Nations, the details of the mutually agreed
national programs under paragraph 2 b (3)
above should be developed within the framework of the United
Nations program through conferences under United Nations
auspices.
3. In any honest program for regulation, limitation and balanced
reduction of all armed forces and armaments, a first and indispensable
step is a system for continuing international disclosure and
verification of all armed forces and armaments. This means revealing in
appropriate stages all armed forces—including para-military, security
and police forces—and all armaments, including atomic, and providing for
proper international inspection to verify the adequacy and accuracy of
this information.
The United States believes that a proper system of disclosure and
verification should be based on the following principles:
-
a.
- The system of disclosure and verification must be on a
continuing basis. Disclosure as of a particular date on a “one
time” basis and subsequent verification of such disclosure would
not meet the requirements of a continuing program for
regulation, limitation and balanced reduction of all armed
forces and armaments.
-
b.
- The disclosure and verification should be carried out stage by
stage, with appropriate provisions for proceeding to the next
stage when, and only when, previous stages have been
satisfactorily completed.
-
c.
- The early stages of the disclosure would have to include the
numbers of all types of armed forces, including para-military,
security and police forces, and the organized reserve components
of those forces, as well as the types and amounts of armaments
and matériel of such forces in service and reserve.
-
d.
- With respect to atomic energy, also, the disclosure would have
to be carried out in stages.* The United States is aware that in due
course this program would require the United States to disclose
the atomic weapons in its possession. It is prepared to take
such a step.
-
e.
- The United Nations should establish, at the time of the
adoption of the general principles governing this program, the
necessary inspection machinery to ensure effective verification
of the armed forces and armaments, including those involving
atomic energy, disclosed pursuant to the program.
4. When such a program is in force, there will be large savings in
national military expenditures, which will become available for other
purposes. States adhering to a disarmament program could then devote a
substantial portion of the money and resources which would otherwise
have been spent for military purposes to a great program to provide aid
to those areas of the world which need help. This would make possible an
intensified and concerted campaign under the auspices of the United
Nations against poverty, hunger, disease and ignorance.
5. It is obvious that a disarmament program cannot be carried out while
fighting continues in Korea. Discussions on the subject can, however,
begin now. The United States desires to emphasize that disarmament
proposals are intimately related to progress on the concurrent
settlement of other political issues. The United States is ready to move
forward on other political issues and, indeed, it is our view that we
cannot permit our desire for a program of regulation, limitation and
balanced reduction of all armed forces and armaments to blind us to the
pressing need for finding ways to resolve other problems.
6. It is our desire to see a world in which international peace and
security are assured. The present proposals for a program of regulation,
limitation and balanced reduction of all armed forces and armaments will
move us forward toward that objective.
7. We should all be willing to serve the cause of peace by deeds instead
of words. The United States is prepared to begin negotiations in the
United Nations on a system of continuing disclosure and verification of
all armed forces and armaments as a necessary first step and an integral
part of an honest program for the regulation, limitation and balanced
reduction of armed forces to the level of, say, 1 percent of
population—with a ceiling for any one country of one million—and with
comparable restrictions on the armaments of such force.
