Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, United Nations Affairs, Volume III

711.022/–1352

Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs (Hickerson) to the Deputy Under Secretary of State (Matthews)¹

secret

[Washington,] May 13, 1952.

• Subject:
• United States Policy toward Colonial Areas and Colonial Powers

The attached memorandum² represents our tentative views on some of the problems raised in the memorandum of April 28 circulated by Mr. Perkins entitled “Preliminary Thoughts on the Subject of a U.S. Policy towards Colonial Areas and Colonial Powers”. I use the adjective “tentative” because this question is not only a continuing one with long and short-term aspects but it is one which is being examined again by the United Nations Liaison Committee in the general “postmortem” on the last General Assembly, in which this problem arose in an acute form, owing to the Moroccan and Tunisian situations.

The colonial problem, however, in more general terms, has been a problem of major importance in the United Nations ever since the drafting of the Charter in 1945. The philosophy, purposes and methods of the colonial system has been a subject which has tended to divide the United Nations into a large anti-colonial group on the one hand and the minority of colonial powers on the other.

The Department of State and United States Delegations in this situation have, in practice, evolved a middle position between these extremes and have attempted to play the role of “honest broker” in developing a sizable group which has held a moderate position with respect to the colonial issue.

Such a middle position not only accorded with our own historical background and our present “colonial” responsibilities, but it also was the result of a balance of forces within the government itself where differing views have been held by the various geographical Bureaus in the Department. In this Bureau we have approached the problem pragmatically in an attempt to harmonize divergent positions both on the world scene and internally. The attached memorandum reflects these views.

Various attempts have been made in the Department over the past several years to formulate a comprehensive colonial policy position. The most recent attempt, made in 1950 (see copy attached),³ though couched in general terms, did not secure complete agreement in the Department and was not finalized as a policy statement. It has, however, served as a general guide in the development of United States positions on particular questions in the United Nations. Our experience has shown, however, that even when agreement is reached on general principles and attitudes to be taken on the colonial question, great difficulty is found in applying them in particular cases as they arise, sometimes unexpectedly, in United Nations bodies. In other words, a statement of general policy or principles will not furnish a general panacea for all our troubles. Nevertheless, in this, as in other fields, we can only proceed intelligently in particular cases if we have a common basis of policy as a point of departure.

Therefore, we believe that thinking on this question in the Department would be clarified if there were another general examination of the problem as a whole, especially in view of the critical issues which Morocco and Tunisia have raised.⁴ Increasing pressure and appeals are being made to us by the principal colonial powers and also by the increasingly vocal Arab-Asian,⁵ Far Eastern and Latin American countries. The present emphasis on colonial and trusteeship matters in the United Nations necessarily means that such a clarification will look to the problem of dealing with these matters in United Nations organs and agencies. We suggest that a working group be activated at once to undertake this study. The group should include UNA and the geographic Bureaus and perhaps two or three other areas. The Policy Planning Staff should be represented if it desires. The group would naturally seek the views of yourself, Ambassador Jessup, Mr. Bohlen, and other interested officers. I am prepared to designate Mr. Gerig and Mr. Cargo to represent UNA in such a working group.

1. Hickerson sent copies to Bohlen, Jessup, Perkins, Byroade, Nitze, the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Allison), and the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Miller).
2. See the joint memorandum of May 8, p. 1111.
3. See the 1950 working paper, “United States Policy toward Dependent Territories”, p. 1077.
4. For documentation on Morocco and Tunisia, see volume xi .
5. For documentation on the Department of State’s concern at the emergence of an Arab-Asian block in the General Assembly of the United Nations, see pp. 32 ff.