Editorial Note
In a Hickerson memorandum of March 11, 1953, Secretary of State Dulles was appraised of the essentials of UNA thinking on preliminary planning for United Nations Charter Review preparations, on a timetable projection of 1956–57 as the date of a conference.Hickerson recommended that in general consultations with members of Congress, non-governmental organizations and other governments be deferred until 1954. Hickerson informed the Secretary of State that UNA “currently is reexamining our seven years’ experience in the UN in terms of outstanding problems which now confront us. From this we expect useful insights into the approach we may wish to make to Charter review.” Hickerson proposed to assign the UNA Planning Staff “for the remainder of this year” to this onward review of the main questions affecting United States policy towards the United Nations. (Hickerson–Murphy–Key files, lot 58 D 33, “UN Charter Review Conference”)
There is a presumption, although unsupported explicitly by available documentation, that the UNA study “Principal Stresses and Strains Facing the US in the UN” was the current review to which Hickerson had reference in this memorandum to Dulles. For documentation relating to this study, see pages 82 ff.