Book Reviews : Intervention. By ISIDRO FABELA. (Paris: Editions A. Pedone, 1961. Publications de la Revue Générale de Droit International Public, Nouvelle Série, No. 2. Pp. 236.)

• Author: Peter H. Rohn
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296101400419
• Date: 01 December 1961
• Published date: 01 December 1961
• Subject Matter: Articles

974

tions&dquo;)

and

III

(&dquo;The

Influences

Behind

Decisions

at

the

U.N.&dquo;).

In

these

two

chapters

the

characteristics

of

United

Nations

diplomacy

-

including

the

in-

fluence

of

the

physical

environment

and

of

luncheons

and

cocktail

parties

-

are

brought

to

the

foreground;

and

the

various

factors

involved

in

decision-making

are

scrutinized:

self-interest,

public

opinion,

political

blocs,

pressures

toward

compromise,

moral

pressures,

confidence

in

the

United

Nations.

Thus

one

re-

ceives

an

insight

into

what

goes

on

behind

the

fagade

of

formal

speeches

and

motions.

Chapter

I

is

simply

a

description,

for

the

benefit

of

those

not

familiar

with

them,

of

the

various

bodies

and

organs;

and

following

Chapter

III

the

remainder

of

the

work

is

comprised

largely

of

case

studies

of

United

Nations

decision-

making,

with

particular

emphasis

and

considerable

detail

on

questions

and

pres-

sures

with

reference

to

international

economic

assistance.

The

concluding

chap-

ter,

concerned

with

the

usability

of

currency

contributions

in

the

United

Nations

Special

Fund,

provides

a

detailed

illustration

of

the

United

Nations

negotiating

process.

Thus

the

wide

range

of

United

Nations

economic

activities

are

used

to

il-

lustrate

the

complexity

of

the

organization’s

diplomacy.

Both

themes

have

needed

attention

and

elaboration,

but

it is

the

analysis

of

diplomacy

which

brings

to

this

work

its

special

uniqueness.

And,

as

Mr.

Hadwen

and

Mr.

Kaufmann

ob-

serve

in

a

concluding

remark,

&dquo;Some

might

say

that

this

study

deals

as

much

with

’how

United

Nations

are

not

made’

as

with

how

they

are

made.

There

is

considerable truth

in

this.

Nevertheless,

given

the

diversity

and

size

of

the

U.N.

membership,

given

all

the

different

pressures

which

influence

even

simple

U.N.

actions,

it

can

be

called

encouraging

that

any

useful

decisions

are

taken

at

all.&dquo;

Delving

below

the

end

results

of

United

Nations

activities,

these

authors

have

thrown

much

realistic

light

on

this,

the

most

important

of

international

organizations.

Whittier

College

J.

WILLIAM

ROBINSON

Intervention.

By

ISIDRO

FABELA.

(Paris:

Editions

A.

Pedone,

1961.

Publications

de

la

Revue

Générale

de

Droit

International

Public,

Nouvelle

Série,

No.

2.

Pp. 236.)

A

former

judge

on

the

International

Court

of

Justice

and

author

of

several

books

on

legal

aspects

of

inter-American

affairs

and

one

book

on

neutrality

dis,

cusses

here

a

timely

topic

in

historical

perspective.

The

emphasis

rests

on

United

States-Latin

American

relations.

The

book

divides

into

two

main

sections

of

approximately

100

pages

each.

The

first

section

surveys

the

relevant

writings

of

European

(35),

North

American

(13)

and

Latin

American

(14)

authors.

The

second

section

reviews

inter-Ameri-

can

conferences

and

resolutions.

A

brief

chapter

on

the

jurisprudence

of

the

International

Court

of

Justice

has

been

added

between

the

original

Spanish

edi-

tion

(1959)

and

the

present

French

edition

of

this

book.