Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Africa and South Asia, Volume XI, Part 1

ODA files, lot 62 D 225, “South West Africa, 1954”

Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Dependent Area Affairs (Gerig) to the Deputy Director of That Office (Robbins)¹

confidential

[Washington,] October 22, 1954.

Department’s Attitude re Possible United States Membership on a South West Africa Committee

Following your intimation that there was some disposition to put the United States back on an enlarged Committee on South West Africa, I sounded out various interested Bureaus of the Department.

It is rather strongly felt here that the United States’ contribution to this almost insoluble problem can best be made at this stage by not accepting membership on any United Nations committee. It is felt that our best contribution can be made through direct diplomatic channels rather than on a United Nations Committee. Among the reasons for this attitude are the following:

1. The basic positions of the General Assembly and of the Union Government are still so far apart that the two views can not be accommodated at this time.

2. The membership of such a committee would almost certainly include a majority of extremist opinion which would, in fact, weaken and embarrass the United States in its direct bilateral efforts.

3. As the United States served on such a committee for two years, it will be better to leave some other Member, such as Canada or one of the Scandinavian countries, represent the moderate coolheaded point of view.

It is hoped that Senator Smith and Mr. Jackson will share this view unless there are new elements which they see in the picture which would argue to the contrary. If so, the Department, of course, will be very glad to reconsider the position.

Of course, in the unlikely event that the Assembly would adopt much more flexible terms of reference, terms which would go much further in the direction of the Union point of view and terms which would give a liberal and flexible interpretation to the Court’s opinion, there might also be need to reconsider our position.

The foregoing would be the attitude if the committee were composed of Governments. In the event that it is proposed to set up a committee of individual experts, such as the Permanent Mandates Commission, and if it were proposed to designate an American on such a Committee of experts, the position would also be different.

It is hoped that the Delegation will be rather bearish on any United States participation on any such committee, but particularly on one which is called on to do what the previous committees have been.

1. Presumably, Robbins was attached to the U.S. Delegation to the Ninth Session of the General Assembly, as the memorandum is directed to him at USUN.