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Memorandum by the Assistant Chief of the Division of International Security Affairs (Rusk)

secret
[Washington,] March 22, 1946.

Views of the U.S. Security Council Group (Political) on the Preparation and Negotiation of the Special Agreements Referred to in Article 43

The U.S. Security Council Group agreed that it would be desirable for the U.S. Representatives on the Military Staff Committee to introduce the following memorandum at the next meeting of the Military Staff Committee:94

procedure for complying with security council directive of 16 february 1946 regarding the preparation of military agreements

Memorandum From the U.S. Delegation on the Military Staff Committee

1.
At its meeting of 16 February 1946, the Security Council decided that the next meetings of the Military Staff Committee should be devoted to the study of Article 43 of the United Nations Charter.
2.
As a method of accomplishing this task, the United States Delegation proposes the following procedure he carried out in the sequence given:
a.
Formulate recommendations to the Security Council as to the the basic principles which should govern the organization of the United Nations forces. (A subcommittee should be appointed at once to study this question and submit its recommendations to the Military Staff Committee as a whole).
b.
Formulate recommendations to the Security Council as to the contribution of forces to be made by each of the five permanent members of the Security Council.
c.
Formulate recommendations to the Security Council as to the contribution of forces which should be made by each member nation which is not a permanent member of the Security Council.

It was also agreed that it would be desirable for the Military Staff Committee to forward its recommendations as to general principles (under a, above) to the Security Council for approval before using such principles as a basis for examining the contributions of forces to be made by Members of the United Nations.

  1. The Military Staff Committee convened in New York on March 25, at which time the United States Representatives submitted as document MS/20 the proposal printed here. It was agreed to establish a subcommittee on basic principles. (IO Files)↩