Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, General; the United Nations, Volume I

SPA Files

Memorandum by the Associate Chief of the Division of International Security Affairs (Blaisdell)

secret
SD/S/727

[Washington,] October 2, 1946.

Proposal by the Soviet Delegation to the Military Staff Committee “the Purpose of United Nations Armed Forces To Be Placed at the Disposal of the Security Council by the Member Nations of the United Nations”

views of the department of state

1. This memorandum sets forth the views of the Department of State on the proposal advanced on September 18, 1946 to the Military Staff Committee by the Soviet Delegation entitled “The Purpose of United Nations Armed Forces To Be Placed at the Disposal of the Security Council by the Member Nations of the United Nations.”⁷⁹ An expression of opinion by the Acting Representative of the United States on the Security Council was requested by the representatives of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff on the Military Staff Committee in a memorandum of September 18, 1946 from Dennis W. Knoll, Secretary, United States Delegation to the Military Staff Committee, to Mr. Herschel V. Johnson.⁸⁰ Comment of the Department was requested in a memorandum of September 19, 1946⁸⁰ from J. W. Scott⁸¹ to Joseph E. Johnson. The views presented in the present memorandum are for the use and guidance of the Acting United States Representative on the Security Council in complying with the request of the representatives of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the Military Staff Committee.⁸³

2. The Department is of the opinion that the Joint Chiefs of Staff representatives on the Military Staff Committee should take the position that in the absence of a specific directive from the Security Council, the Soviet proposal is not an appropriate matter for the Military Staff Committee or its subcommittees to deal with.

3. The Department is further of the opinion that if the Soviet representatives in the Military Staff Committee and its subcommittees consider that the establishment of the principles embodied in the Soviet proposal or of modifications of those principles is a prerequisite to the formulation of the principles of organization of the United Nations forces or is a prerequisite to the adoption by the Military Staff Committee of a draft standard form of agreement concerning the provision of armed forces for submission to the Security Council, the matter should be referred to the Security Council without delay.

4. The Department holds the views expressed in paragraphs 2 and 3 above because the Soviet proposal does not deal primarily with the military aspects of the purpose or employment of the armed forces to be made available to the Security Council or with the principles of organization of those forces. In addition, the proposal, in effect, constitutes interpretations of Charter provisions dealing with the authority of the Council to employ such armed forces and thus raise questions of a political nature. The Military Staff Committee is charged, both under Article 47 of the Charter and under Section II (c) of the Revised Draft Statute (MS/87),⁸⁴ with responsibility for advising and assisting the Security Council on questions relating to the “employment” of forces placed at its disposal. But it appears to be clear from the provisions of Article 47 and of the Draft Statute that unless otherwise directed by the Security Council the Military Staff Committee should, so far as concerns matters relating to the employment of these forces, deal only with matters related to the military aspects of that employment.

5. The Department holds the further view that if the members of the Subcommittee on Principles of Organization, other than the Soviet member, fail to support the position taken by the United States representative in accordance with the position set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 above, the Joint Chiefs of Staff representatives should obtain further instructions from the Joint Chiefs of Staff before adopting any substantially different position.

6. The adoption of the position set forth in paragraph 2, 3, and 5 above with respect to the Soviet proposal would necessitate similar action with respect to proposals concerning the purpose of United Nations armed forces or any other matters outside the terms of reference employed by the Security Council in directing the Military Staff Committee “as its first task to examine from the military point of view the provisions in Article 43 of the Charter” which may appear in papers submitted by other members of the Military Staff Committee.

79. For text, see footnote 53, p. 915.
80. Not printed.
80. Not printed.
81. Joseph W. Scott of the Division of International Security Affairs.
83. The Ad Hoc Committee on Military and Security Functions of the United Nations Organization discussed the Soviet proposal at its 13th Meeting, September 26. It was agreed that the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Department of State should transmit parallel instructions to their representatives in New York based on consensus achieved at that meeting. (SWNCC Files) The present document was forwarded by Mr. Hiss to the Delegation in New York on October 3 as the tentative position of the Department, and transmitted by the Acting United States Representative at the United Nations to the U.S. Representatives on the MSC on October 10. The JCS despatched instructions to the U.S. Representatives on the MSC on October 8 which were substantially the same as those contained in the present document. The JCS instructions were circulated among the U.S. Representatives as USMS/50/12 and in the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee in SWNCC 219/14. (IO Files)
84. Not printed.