Proposed Ways of Preventing War

[p020] ; PROPOSED WAYS OF PREVENTING WAR A third world war may be close at hand, but it is not yet upon us. Our immediate task is to take whatever measures we can to prevent its outbreak. What is to be: done? The main theme of the N.E.C. statement is that peace’ can be preserved by continuing and fortifying the American. alliance. They write: “The Labour Party believes that close co-operation with the United States of America is. vital to Britain and to the Commonwealth as a whole.” This means full support to the N.A.T.O. The N.E.C. also: favours a European army “within which German forces: could serve,” and insists that American and Canadian’ troops should also participate. _ Can these be passed off as steps toward peace? Are ‘We so naive as to believe that Washington is putting billions: into a European Amy to educate its conscripts in the: 17

[p021] principles of equality and brotherhood? These divisions are designed as instruments of war, not of peace—and they are being formed precisely for use in the event of a third world war. In the Far East we have already seen what “close co-operation”? with the United States of America involves. We don’t have to wait for even worse conse- quences to be demonstrated in a global war! The N.E.C. views the United Nations as the one organi- zation which can “‘promote collective security and the peaceful settlement of disputes.” It is true that after World War II, many people turned toward the United Nations as the preserver of world peace, hoping it would do better than the ill-fated League of Nations. They have ‘been sadly disillusioned by recent events. “Any attempt to make it the instrument of one military alliance against another would be disastrous,” says the N.E.C. But is that not exactly what has happened in the case of Korea, where the United States is fighting under the sanction of the United Nations? The reluctance of the United Nations to satisfy, or even consider, the just claims and grievances of small and weak countries like Tunisia, has still further reinforced the opinion that the United Nations is dominated by the big capitalist powers and will do nothing to displease Washing- ton. In any event, Korea has shown that the United Nations cannot be relied upon to preserve the peace and can even be used to justify imperialist aggression. It must be remembered that the United Nations is com- posed of 47 capitalist and 5 non-capitalist countries. How can the interests of the toiling masses be protected by re- ferring disputes to an association dominated by capitalist — powers and dedicated to the preservation of the status quo? ‘Would the trade unions get justice by bringing their claims to the Federation of British Industries for ‘impartial’ arbitration? Oo _ The third means proposed to preserve peace is another conference of the Big Powers, through which a settlement can be negotiated with the Soviet Union and China.

[p022] There is nothing wrong with holding another meeting of the Big Four or the Big Five powers. But the question is: what will be discussed and what kind of decisions will be made? If the same sort of decisions are made there as came out of the secret conferences at Yalta, Teheran and Pots- dam, they will do far more harm than good to the peoples and the peace of the world. The conflict in Korea can be traced directly to the agree- ment between London, Washington and Moscow to split that country arbitrally along the 38th parallel and oecupy it. The present situation in Germany results from the decision of the Potsdam Conference to partition it. We believe that all the occupying forces of the foreign powers should withdraw from German soil and permit the German people themselves to decide their own fate. The previous secret deals among the Big Powers have already sown seeds of dissension and conflict. Another one is more likely to increase than to remove them, if their diplomacy is conducted along the same lines and on the same basis.