Jeffrey Garofalo

Assignment #2

Beneath the ashes left from World War's I and II lied the ruins of dismantled empires and lost territories. The allied victors of the two world wars, principally England and France, sought to annex the former Habsburg, Ottoman and Germanic territorial possessions, incorporating them into "greater" France and England. These efforts were rejected by the United States, first by Wilson and then later by Presidents' Roosevelt and Truman. It was Wilson, believing that the Great War had been fought to "make the world safe for democracy", who first articulated the nexus between self government and the maintenance of international peace and security. Rather than sharing in the "spoils" of war, these territories became subject first to the League Mandate and later the UN Trusteeship Council, where these former colonized peoples were prepared for their future independence.

Established as a principle organ of the United Nations under Chapter XIII, the UN Trusteeship Council administered and supervised all trust territories in order to "promote the political, economic, social and educational advancement of the inhabitants" of the former colonized territories, while assisting in the development of free political institutions to accommodate their future independence. Under Article 77 of the UN Charter, the trusteeship system applied to territories held previously under League Mandate, territories detached from enemy states after the Second World War and territories voluntarily placed under the system by states responsible for their administration. The trust territories included "non strategic"trusts for the General Assembly and "strategic" trusts for the Security Council. As defined under Article 86, the composition of the Trusteeship Council included those members administering trust territories, those of the permanent members of the Security Council as were not administering trust territories and as many additional members as were necessary to maintain an equal balance between members administering, not administering trust territories. In order to carry out their mission, the Council, under Articles 87&88,was granted the authority to accept petitions from private individuals and groups, to consider and debate reports submitted by the administering authority, and to formulate a questionnaire on progress made towards self government. In addition, the Council was also given the authority to visit trust territories, while consulting labor leaders and private individuals on the progress towards independence. The Council made recommendations and submitted an annual report based upon their findings to the General Assembly.

The record of the Trusteeship Council was generally positive. Their work, in most cases, raised the standards of the overall administration of the trust territories while providing a more orderly and peaceful transition to self rule. The Council also helped to foster the decolonization movement in the post war era which contributed to the eventual gaining of independence for countries such as Morocco, Algeria and Indochina. Critics have asserted that in some cases, principally involving the nation states of Africa, the Council "pushed nations prematurely towards independence". Overcome by their absolute commitment to decolonization, as expressed in General Assembly Resolution 1514, the Council plunged nations into a bitter climate of civil war and economic and political inequality.

With the gaining of independence of Palau in 1994, the last strategic territory, the UN Trusteeship Council's work has essentially come to an end. A Charter amendment abolishing the Council is all that is necessary to formally absolve the principle body. But some may argue that there remains work still to be done. Today, persons, including those in Bermuda, Montserrat, East Timor and the Falkland Islands are still subjected to administration by a foreign power. On the African continent, civil war and destitution besiege the landscape. The Trusteeship Council, armed with both an understanding and firsthand knowledge of the climate and political environment of these territories, could certainly help in fostering a more favorable outcome in these areas. It may be that the Council could evolve into a more activist body, working in conjunction with the efforts of the General Assembly and Security Council, to advance progressive solutions to problem areas like those mentioned above.