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wee, _Disarmament: The Problem and the Prospects by Francis O. Wileow- - -- a Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs? I warmly welcome the opportunity to meet with members of the American Society of International Law, whose signal contributions to scholarship and whose continuing influence on international affairs are recognized throughout the world. It is a special challenge to address this dis- tinguished group. That is so primarily because your interest and qualifications cover a very wide spectrum, ranging from particular questions of international law and practice to fundamental issues of international peace and order. And it is 8 high tribute to this organization that this is in- deed the case. Tonight I would like to speak to you about one of these fundamental questions, perhaps the most vital and the most critical of world problems, I refer to the problem of disarmament, The Urgent Need for Disarmament The infinitely destructive capabilities of modern warfare have given new focus and urgency to dis- armament efforts. I fear that we now take for granted “kilotons” and “megatons” as measures of destructive power. These words, describing nu- clear and thermonuclear explosive power in terms of its equivalent in thousands or millions of tons of TNT, have become commonplace. Their impact on the human mind has accordingly tended to diminish. Yet the fact remains that a single plane today can deliver more destructive power than al of the planes in ali of the air forces delivered dur- ing the Second World War. Let us clearly note, Moreover, that nuclear weapons technology and capacity may not remain * Address made before the American Society of Inter- national Law at Washington, D.C, on Apr. 28 (press re- lease 228). 820 the exclusive province of those who now possess them. Others can no doubt develop this capability. We thus face clear prospects of the proliferation of nuclear weapons among the states of the world, with all that this would portend in added hazard to international peace, I do not need to emphasize here other aspects of the problem of peace and security: the rapid de- velopment of missiles, the entry of manmade ob- jects—and soon man himself—into outer space, the advances in chemical and biological methods of warfare. Nor do I need to address myself to the tremendous economic burden of armaments in the world. Yesterday [April 27] in his press conference, President Eisenhower said that he could “see no reason why the sums which now are going into these sterile, negative mechanisms that we call war munitions shouldn’t go into something posi- tive.” In this connection it is significant that the amount of money spent for national defense in this world in 1 year would pay for all the activities and programs of the United Nations for the next 500 years. For the totality of this problem is such that the search for disarmament has become a prime imperative of our times. But we must not be maneuvered into disarma- ment at any price. The disarmament arrange- ments we see~and must find—are those that through mutual application and: safeguarded im- plementation will enhance our security and not leave us and our free-world associates open and vulnerable to aggressive action. Tomorrow, in Geneva, the 10-nation disarma- ment group, which is the focal point of present disarmament efforta, will recess-for-6-weeks until. after the meeting at the summit. Department of Sfate Bulletin