Editorial Note
On June 14, 1951, Secretary of State Acheson and Lester B. Pearson, Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs, met in Washington for discussion of the possibility of war being provoked by Soviet aggression, the use of atomic weapons, and other aspects of the grave world situation. The following officials were also present at the meeting: H. Freeman Matthews, Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs; Paul H. Nitze, Director of the Policy Planning Staff; E. Gordon Arneson, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State; Hume Wrong, Canadian Ambassador in the United States; George Ignatieff, Canadian Counselor of Embassy; and Douglas LePan, Special Assistant to Mr. Pearson. Secretary Acheson had participated in similar discussions with Ambassador Wrong on May 25. Matthews, Nitze, Arneson, and Ignatieff had also been present. Additional conversations occurred on July 13 (Matthews, Nitze, Arneson, and Carlton Savage of the Policy Planning Staff, meeting with Ambassador Wrong and Ignatieff) and July 27 (Nitze, Arneson, and Joseph Chase of Arneson’s office, meeting with Ambassador Wrong and Ignatieff).
For memoranda of the conversations under reference and related material, see pages 802 ff.