AMERICA'S FOREIGN POLICY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25047, 10 November 1944, Page 3

AMERICA'S FOREIGN POLICY

DECISIONS THAT MUST BE MADE ESTABLISHMENT OF WORLD ORDER By SUMNER WELLES, formerly United States Under-Secretary of State. From his book. "The Tims for Decision " World Copyright Reserved.

No. XXVI. If the American people wish to recapture for their foreign policy that logical consistency which it had in the first decades of its independent life, they must determine now what it is they seek in their relations with other peoples, and must see to it that their elected representatives pursue those basic objectives, no matter to which political party they may belong. It is axiomatic that the foreign policy of the United States, like that of any other nation, should be based upon enlightened selfishness. It should be determined from the standpoint, of what is of most advantage to the long range interest of its people. It should be shaped so as to save the lives of our sons. It should be moulded so as to relieve the burdens of the taxpayers. Thenwould be little dispute, I believe, that the people of the United States wish their Government's foreign policy to procure for them the following assurances:— The maintenance of the peace of tin* nation; the preservation of the indepentlence and integrity of the United States; the certainty that its democratic institutions will not he jeopardised; full opportunity for the United i States to make its power and influence J felt in shaping the. future course of world events; untrammelled encouragement for the American people to advance their standard of living and to progress in social development; and the assurance that they may trade, and utilise the air and the high seas on a basis of complete equality with the peoples of other nations. Too Much Time Waste For a period after the conclusion of the present war, and this period may he long or short, disordered world conditions will make it imperative for the United States to keep within its grasp the military, naval, and air power necessary for its own defence. This is an elementary precaution for which no foreign policy, however wise, can find any substitute during such a transition period. The first requirement, in the transition period, is to hasten as quickly as possible the establishment of a world order that would give the United States security. The second requirement, to be met after an international organisation has b'een created and the immediate post-war adjustments have been made, is to further the achievement of the long-range objectives of the foreign policy previously outlined. The only way in which the United States Government can fill the first requirement is by unswerving concentration, by unremitting initiative, and by the blunt admission that far too much time has already been wasted. It will never be done by saying publicly and officially that, an international organisation to keep the peace is desirable. It will never be done by official repetition of windy and platitudinous generalities. The United States Government has the power necessary to accomplish it, but it will do so only by unflinching effort, and through acts rather than words. When the Soldiers' Work is Done The understanding between the governments of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, China, and the I nited States, necessary to create a L nited Nations Executive Council, in which all the United Nations would be represented, could readily have been reached early in 1912. It has grown progressively more difficult, but the necessary agreement can still be reached. These lines by an Englishman are as applicable today as they were when they were written 25 years ago: "All conquerors in a great war show the more despicable side of human nature. Those who have been sworn allies in the face of a common foe invariably have disagreements, more or less deep, when the work of the soldiers is finished and I he politicians begin to apportion the spoil." . Unless the United States succeeds in the immediate future in establishing the basis for an international organisation such as I have outlined, we will drift into the armistice period to find ourselves once more in the position that President Wilson occupied in Paris in .January, 1919, but this time the United States Government will possess neither the prestige nor the influence which Wilson then held. The second requirement—that involving the long-range objectives—must be carried out by policies supplementary to the basic one of active participation in an international organisation. First in the list must always come the maintenance of the independence and integrity of the nations of the Western Hemisphere, and the continuous perfection of the existing inter-American system. These are the aims of the Monroe Doctrine. Economic Co-operation Further, the United States must continue whole-heartedly its present policy of economic co-operation with its American neighbours as part of its responsibility as a member of both_ the inter-American system and the World Organisation. The United States must retain sole authority to maintain and defend the Panama Canal, limited only by the provisions of its treaty with Panama of 19:iG, which gave the people of Panama both the right and the obligation to co-operate with the United States in that enterprise. If outlying islands of the Western Hemisphere, now under the exclusive sovereignty of one of the American nations, are required for world or regional security, they should be placed, by agreement with the nation possessing sovereignty over them, under such niterAmerican sccurit;/ control as the American republics may determine. The United States Government should exercise its rights in the naval and air bases leased to it in British territories in the Atlantic and in the Caribbean in such a way as to make sure that the eastern coast ol the Initcd States and the eastern approaches to the Panama Canal will be sale against an attack for many generations to come. Basesi in Pacific i'he United States should obtain such additional air and naval bases in the Pacific Ocean as may be required to assure the safety of its outlying Pacific possessions, of the vgtitt coast of the continental United Stums, and ol the western approaches to nie Panama Canal. Such steps should be co-ordin-ated with .whatever agreements the United States may make with other American republics for the maintenance of regional peace, and with the major world Powers entrusted by the International Organisation with the preservation of world peace. These agreements, of course, must envisage the joint inter-American use of regional bases, and joint use hv the United States with the other major policing Powers of strategic bases located in the Atlantic and in the Pacific areas. The continued existence o, the British Commonwealth of Nations (a> distinct from the British Empire) should he one of the objectives of United States policy. So long as naval power continues to be a factor of major importance, the existence of the United,

Kingdom as one of the greatest maritime Powers of the world ensures that the United States will share the control ot the Atlantic wjth a friendly Navy However, what will be even more important to the Lnited States as the years go by is that the association ol the self-governing Dominions of the British Commonwealth will assure us ot the existence in every part ol the globe of friendly democracies with which we will never have any insuperable dimriiity in reaching an understanding. Their economic prosperity is a bulwark to United States prosperity. i It is therefore highly desirable toal the United States Government:. and the Governments of the British Commonwealth of Nations reach an early understanding. which will remove deep-rooted causes for antagonism in their respective commercial policies. . As rapidly as possible the United States must try to expand its volume of trade and other economic relations with the Soviet Union, l'rom the standpoint of size, the Bussia of the future wil become t lie greatest of the world Powers, greatest because of its vast and rapidly increasing population, greatest because ol its territorial extent, and greatest because of its as yet largely undeveloped material resources. The present. Soviet Government has made it clear that world revolution, as a means of establishing the supremacy oi'Communism, has at least temporarily been abandoned as part ol its national policy. It is of first importance to a stable world order that the Russian people co-operate with the people ot the United States in the supreme task of helping to make a safe and peaceful world as they are today co-operating in the war against Germany The closer the tie.s between them during the transition period the more constructive a taetor will Russia become in building up the world ot tomorrow. There are innumerable ways in which the United States can help the Chinese people in the years to come to develop their resources to mutual advantage, but primarily in order to raise standards of living in China; to stabilise and perfect the forms of government best suited to Chinese needs; and to come successfully through the period ol readjustment which they inevitably must confront in the first post-war years. The future stability of Asia and the United States' own security as a Pacific Power will depend largely on the wisdom of policy toward China in those years. (Thr final extract from "The Time for Decision" will appear on this page next week.)