Book Reviews : The International Status of the United Nations. By GUENTER WEISSBERG. (New York: Oceana Publications, 1961. Pp. xii, 228. $7.50.)

• Published date: 01 December 1961
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296101400444
• Author: George V. Wolfe
• Date: 01 December 1961
• Subject Matter: Articles

1000

mediary.

At

other

times

an

issue,

such

as

the

Libyan

War,

widened

the

differ,

ences

among

Catholics

and

even

provided

embarrassments

for

the

Holy

See.

Part

Two

deals

with

&dquo;the

revival

of

Christian

Democracy&dquo;

from

1929

to

1945.

However,

there

is

scant

material

in

these

chapters

to

justify

using

either

&dquo;revival&dquo;

or

&dquo;Democracy.&dquo;

Here

the

author

discusses

the

relations

between

the

Church

and

the

Fascist

regime,

and

he

describes

the

various

movements

of

lay

Catholics

including

their

participation

in

the

Resistance,

1943-45.

Many

of

the

present

party

leaders

took

part

in

what

intellectual

and

political

life

there

was

under

fascism,

so

this

section

provides

a

valuable

background

for

understanding

the

currents

still

extant

within

the

Christian

Democratic

party.

It

is

difficult

to

understand

Italian

party

politics

without

knowing

and

ap-

preciating

the

forces

and

personalities

that

have

been

at

work

over

the

years.

Vital

to

a

comprehension

of

the

Christian

Democrats

is

an

explanation

of

their

heritage,

and

it

is

this

which

Prof.

Webster

gives

us.

Using

Italian

sources

almost

exclusively,

he

has

produced

a

meaningful

review

of

the

development

of

Chris-

tian

Democracy

up

to

1945.

A

short

epilogue

sketches

the

postwar

situation.

Since

1953

De

Gasperi’s

system

has

been

crumbling

bit

by

bit,

and

there

is

evidence

of

livelier

factionalism

within

the

party.

Practically

all

of

the

discor-

dant

elements

that

comprise

the

party

are

touched

upon

in

this

book.

As

the

present

intra-party

problems

persist,

the

reader

of

this

volume

will

be

rewarded

in

his

understanding

of

Italian

politics

as

played

by

the

Christian

Democrats

and

the

Church.

There

is

much

more

in

this

book

than

the

title

indicates.

University

of

California,

Los

Angeles

DAVID

G.

FARRELLY

The

International

Status

of

the

United

Nations.

By

GUENTER

WEISSBERG.

(New

York:

Oceana

Publications,

1961.

Pp.

xii,

228.

$7.50.)

This

monograph

on

the

United

Nations’

international

juridical

personality

is

a

revised

version

of

a

dissertation

presented

to

Columbia

University

for

a

Ph.D.

degree

by

a

member

of

the

New

York

Bar.

As

the

author

points

out,

the

international

personality

of

the

United

Nations

rests

on

explicit

Charter

provisions.

The

Charter

refers

to

the

organization

as

a

special

entity,

recognizes

the

contractual

capacity

of

the

United

Nations,

confers

on

the

organization

the

function

to

engage

in

armed

conflict,

establishes

the

In-

ternational

Court

as

an

international

tribunal,

and

bestows

on

the

organization

the

procedural

capacity

to

request

advisory

opinions

of

the

Court.

In

turn,

how-

ever,

the

organization’s

international

personality

promotes

an

expansion

of

its

functions.

Apart

from

the

explicit,

delegated,

or

primary

functions

named

in

the

Charter,

there

are

also

&dquo;implied&dquo;

functions

-

those

necessary

for

the

ac-

complishment

of

the

primary

ones

-

and

&dquo;auxiliary&dquo;

functions

-

those

necessary

for

the

organization

to

fulfill

its

objectives

and

purposes.

And

these

&dquo;auxiliary&dquo;

functions

are,

according

to

the

author,

&dquo;derived

not

only

from

the

primary

func-

tions

of

the

entity

[the

United

Nations]

but

also

from

its

international

legal

personality.&dquo;