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

USUN Files

Draft Resolution on Disarmament Prepared by the Staff of the United States Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly ³³

top secret
4th Draft

[New York,] November 26, 1946.

the general assembly:

With a view to strengthening peace and international security in conformity with the aims and principles of the United Nations^* (Preamble, Chapter I of the Charter);

With a view to determining the principles governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments, and recognizing its responsibility for making recommendations with regard to such principles to the Members of the United Nations or to the Security Council or both (Article 11, paragraph 1);

In order to promote the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the world’s human and economic resources, and recognizing the responsibility of the Security Council for formulating with the advice and assistance of the Military Staff Committee plans to be submitted to the Members of the United Nations for the establishment of a system for the regulation of armaments (Article 26);

Recognizing the necessity of a general reduction of armaments,^† thereby progressively removing the means of conducting aggressive warfare;

Recognizing that the provision of peace forces by the special agreements called for by Article 43 of the Charter should be considered in close relationship to the question of the general reduction and regulation of armaments, and that the ultimate objective of disarmament should be the reduction of armaments to the level of these peace forces together with the forces necessary to maintain domestic order and tranquility under law;

Recognizing that the provision of information concerning the armed forces of Members of the United Nations, whether at home or abroad, should be considered in close relationship to the question of the general reduction and regulation of armaments and disarmament, as well as to the provision of peace forces under Article 43;

Recognizing that progress toward the general reduction and regulation of armaments and disarmament depends upon the accomplishment as a first step of the purposes and objectives of the Resolution adopted unanimously by the General Assembly at the first part of its first session at London, January 24, 1946, which established a Commission, known as the Atomic Energy Commission, “to deal with the problems raised by the discovery of atomic energy and other related matters”, and which set forth the terms of reference of the Commission;

calls upon the Atomic Energy Commission to proceed with the utmost dispatch to complete its task of formulating, in the spirit of unanimity contemplated in the Charter, specific proposals for the international control of the production of fissionable materials and of the production and use of atomic energy, including effective safeguards by way of inspection and other means at all stages of production and use to protect complying States against the hazards of violations and evasions, to ensure its use only for peaceful purposes, and to prohibit the production and employment of weapons based on the use of atomic energy for the purpose of mass destruction;^††

affirms the fundamental principle that the general reduction and regulation of armaments and disarmament must be progressive, international and multilateral in character and not unilateral on the part of any Member of the United Nations;

affirms the fundamental principle that effective safeguards by way of inspection and other means to protect complying States against the hazards of violation and evasion are essential to the general reduction and regulation of armaments and disarmament;

resolves, under the authority conferred by Article 22 of the Charter, to establish as a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly a Permanent Disarmament Commission, the composition and organization of the Commission, its functions and responsibilities, its relationship to other organs and agencies of the United Nations and its procedures to be as set forth in the following paragraphs:

1. Composition and Organization. The Commission shall be composed of one Representative of each of those States represented on the Security Council, and of four additional Members of the United Nations.^§ The four additional Members shall be elected for a term of two years. Each member on the Commission may have such assistance as he may desire. The Commission shall be so organized as to be able to function continuously and each member of the Commission shall for this purpose be represented at all times at the seat of the organization. The Commission may establish subsidiary organs as it deems necessary for the performance of its functions.

2. Functions and Responsibilities. The functions and responsibilities of the Commission, being directed toward the general reduction and regulation of armaments and disarmament, shall be as follows:

(a) To provide a coordinating center for the activities of all United Nations organs and agencies concerned with the general reduction and regulation of armaments, disarmament and related matters.

(b) To consider all matters relating to the general reduction and regulation of armaments and disarmament; to prepare studies and reports and to formulate recommendations to the General Assembly or to the Security Council, or to both with regard to such matters; and to make an annual report jointly to the General Assembly and to the Security Council on its progress.

(c) To advise the General Assembly with regard to the principles governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments (Article 11, paragraph 1) and related matters and in carrying out this responsibility to make such special reports and recommendations to the Assembly as it deems appropriate or as the Assembly may request.

(d) To formulate for submission to and consideration by the Security Council plans to be submitted to the Members of the United Nations for the establishment of a system for the regulation of armaments (Article 25) and in carrying out this responsibility to make such special reports and recommendations to the Security Council as it deems appropriate or as the Council may request.

(e) To provide such advice and assistance as may be requested by the Council of Foreign Ministers with regard to the relationship between plans for the demilitarization and permanent disarmament of ex-enemy countries, in particular Germany and Japan, and plans for the general reduction and regulation of armaments and disarmament.

(f) To maintain, following the establishment of a comprehensive system for the general reduction and regulation of armaments and disarmament, constant surveillance over the effectiveness of the system, with particular reference to the effectiveness of safeguards by way of inspection and other means to protect complying States against the hazards of violations and evasions, to report annually to the General Assembly and to the Security Council jointly on the progress of the system and to submit special reports as it deems appropriate or as may be requested by the General Assembly or by the Security Council, and to make recommendations as it deems appropriate in the light of changing circumstances to the General Assembly, or to the Security Council, or to both with regard to any matter within its field of responsibility.

(g) To bring immediately to the attention of the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Members any situation it considers to be a violation or an evasion of the terms of the system to be established for the general reduction and regulation of armaments and disarmament, together with its recommendations in regard to such situation.

3. Relationships with other organs and agencies of the United Nations. In addition to its relationships with the General Assembly and the Security Council as set forth above, the relationships of the Commission with other organs and agencies of the United Nations shall be as outlined in the following paragraphs.

(a) Military Staff Committee. The Military Staff Committee, consistent with its responsibilities as set forth in Article 47, paragraph 1, and other Articles of the Charter, may, upon the request of the Commission, advise and assist the Commission in any or all aspects of its work.

(b) Atomic Energy Commission. In carrying out its responsibilities the Permanent Disarmament Commission, having in mind the primary and urgent importance of the work of the Atomic Energy Commission, shall avoid any action which might infringe upon the responsibilities of the Atomic Energy Commission or impede or delay the prompt accomplishment of its task of formulating specific proposals for the international control with effective safeguards of atomic energy for peaceful purposes only and for prohibiting the production and employment of weapons based on the use of atomic energy for the purpose of mass destruction. The two Commissions shall work in close cooperation and whatever reports and recommendations the Atomic Energy Commission may submit to the Security Council under the Resolution of January 24, 1946 shall be made available to the Permanent Disarmament Commission.

(c) Economic and Social Council. The Economic and Social Council shall, under Article 66 of the Charter and upon the request of the Commission, prepare studies and reports and advise and assist the Commission with regard to expenditures for armaments and the costs of armaments in terms of the world’s human and economic resources and the relationship between the general reduction and regulation of armaments and disarmament and the attainment of the objectives set forth in Article 55 and elsewhere in the Charter.

(d) Secretariat. The Secretary General shall serve as Secretary General of the Commission with the right to participate fully in the discussions and deliberations of the Commission but without the right to vote. The Secretary General shall provide all necessary staff and facilities to carry on effectively the work of the Commission and shall defray all necessary expenses of the Commission from the Budget of the Organization.

4. Procedures. The Commission shall adopt its own rules of procedure, being guided as a matter of convenience and to the fullest extent practicable by the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly: provided that decisions of the Commission on procedural matters shall be by simple majority vote and that decisions on all other matters shall be by two-thirds majority vote.

the general assembly:

calls upon the Government of all the Members of the United Nations to give to the Permanent Disarmament Commission all the assistance necessary to enable it to discharge its responsibilities arising out of this task, the achievement of which lies within the scope of the mission of the United Nations to establish an enduring peace and maintain international security. This task is also in the interest of the peoples who would be released from the heavy economic burden caused by excessive expenditures on armaments which do not correspond to peaceful post-war conditions.^║

33. The first draft of this resolution, November 17, and subsequent drafts, are similar in configuration to the present paper, emphasizing the advisability of creating a United Nations Permanent Disarmament Commission. The third draft, November 21, was transmitted for comment to Ferdinand Eberstadt of the United States Delegation to the Atomic Energy Commission on November 25, Eberstadt’s reply of November 29 suggested certain changes in the language of the portions of the resolution directly related to the international control of atomic energy. It did not comment on the advisability of actually presenting the resolution to the General Assembly. (USUN Files)

    The source text of the present document bears a marginal notation indicating that the original copy of the 4th draft was transmitted to Secretary Byrnes on November 26 to be forwarded by him to the President and thence to the Joint Chiefs of Staff for comment.

34. This language is quoted from the text of the Soviet Resolution. [Footnote in the source text.]
35. This language is quoted from the text of the Soviet Resolution. [Footnote in the source text.]
36. The last phrase is quoted from the title of the Soviet draft convention introduced in the Atomic Energy Commission on . . . . . . . 1946. [Footnote in the source text.]
37. N.B. This would be a Commission of fifteen members. The additional four members are added for the twofold purpose of diluting somewhat the relative weight of the five permanent members who would thus have one-third of the voting strength but would of course be permanent members of the Commission, and of giving broader representation to other Assembly Members in view of the Assembly’s responsibilities in disarmament matters. By providing a more broadly representative Commission of fifteen members the political handicap of a possible Soviet veto in the Security Council of recommendations made to the Council by the Commission would be watered down, at least in the early stages of the Commission’s work. The interests of the United States would be protected by our own veto power in the Security Council, should the occasion to use it arise. The non-permanent Members of the Security Council would rotate on the Commission as a result, of the system of election to the Council. A similar electoral system is provided in the case of the additional four members of the Commission. [Footnote in the source text.]
38. This paragraph is very close to a direct quote from the last paragraph of Molotov’s disarmament proposal. [Footnote in the source text.]