FRADKIN, ELVIRA K. A World Airlift: The United Nations Air Police Patrol. Pp. viii, 216. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1950. $2.85

• DOI: 10.1177/000271625127400143
• Author: J. Eugene Harley
• Published date: 01 March 1951
• Date: 01 March 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

219

gives

unstinted

praise

to

the

Allies

in

con-

nection

with

the

intricate

plan

and

courage-

ous

execution

of

the

amphibious

operations

involved

in

the

Normandy

landings.

He

was

favorably

impressed

by

the

Allied

tactical

use

of

air

power

in

conjunction

with

ground

and

naval

forces.

I

strongly

endorse

this

book

as

a

must

on

the

reading

list

of

American

military

men.

It

is highly

instructive

to

learn

how

our

adversary

prepared

for

the

tremendous

Allied

onslaught

across

the

channel

in

the

most

stupendous

military

operation

in

his-

tory.

Fortunately

for

the

lay

reader,

mil-

itary

technical

terms

are

rarely

employed.

Modern

readers,

however,

know

enough

about

major

military

plans

and

prepara-

tions

to

insure

enjoyment

of

a

well-written

description

of

the

epochal

struggle

in

Nor-

mandy-the

struggle

which

permitted

Al-

lied

forces

to

overrun

Western

Europe

and

to

crush

Nazism.

A.

C.

WEDEMEYER

Lieutenant

General,

USA

San

Francisco,

California

FRADKIN,

ELVIRA

K.

A

World

Airlift:

The

United

Nations

Air

Police

Patrol.

Pp.

viii,

216.

New

York:

Funk

&

Wagnalls

Company,

1950.

$2.85.

The

author

of

this

book

is

a

co-founder

of

the

Women’s

Action

Committee

for

Victory

and

Lasting

Peace

and

the

New

Jersey

Council

on

International

Relations.

In

1948

she

flew

into

Germany

on

the

Berlin

Air

Lift

as

a

guest

of

General

Lucius

Clay.

She

has

represented

various

women’s

groups

at

the

United

Nations

since

1947.

At

present,

she

is

a

delegate

for

the

Federa-

tion

of

Women

Shareholders

in

American

Industry

at

the

United

Nations.

The

author

presents

a

case

for

a

United

Nations

Air

Police

Patrol

(UNAPP)

which

is

envisaged

as

affording

the

necessary

security

for

all

nations

without

considering

combined

forces

with

respect

to

sea

power

and

land

forces.

It

is

asserted

that

this

kind

of

security

measure

can

be

taken

without

amending

the

Charter

of

the

United

Nations

and

that

the

proposed

UNAPP

would

also

be

free

from

the

obstacle

of

the

veto.

With

notable

vigor,

the

argument

is

presented

that

an

&dquo;Inter-

national

Aviation

Authority&dquo;

should

be

established

under

the

auspices

of

the

United

Nations

and

&dquo;all

war

aviation

of

all

nations,

built

or

building,

are

to

be

under

UNAPP’s

control

and

direction.

The

prob-

ability

that

this

war

aviation

could

slip

in-

ternational

controls

and

be

commandeered

for

national

interests

would

be

counteracted

by

a

united

condemnation

of

the

conse-

quences

which

would

resound

around

the

world.

The

concentration

of

air

power

and

air

statistics,

as

well

as

needed

infor-

mation

as

to

available

airports

and

so

forth,

would

be

the

exclusive

property

of

UNAPP&dquo;

(pp.

81,

82).

It

is

thus

seen

that

a

thoroughgoing

system

is

contemplated,

including

international

inspection

of

war

aviation

developments

in

the

various

coun-

tries.

(In

this

connection

the

author

points

out

that

considerable

progress

has

been

made

towards

the values

of

international

inspection

with

respect

to

discussions

of

the

International

Atomic

Energy

Commission

of

the

United

Nations.)

The

general

argument

of

the

author

is

that

there

would

be

reasons

to

expect

that

the

Soviet

bloc

of

nations

as

well

as

the

Western

democracies

would

find

this

plan

for

a

UNAPP

acceptable,

especially

for

reasons

of

economy.

Materials

in

appen-

dices

give

figures

on

armament

expenditures

and

excerpts

from

debates

in the

United

Nations

meetings

devoted

to

arms

control

and

to

the

implementation

of

the

Charter

provisions

on

combined

forces.

This

is

a

serious

and

thoughtful

book

which

warrants

careful

study.

The

re-

viewer

would

direct

attention

to

a

Report

of the

Commission

to

Study

the

Organiza-

tion

of

Peace,

&dquo;Part

Insecurity

and

World

Organization&dquo;

which

&dquo;suggests

that

air

power,

which

has

done

so

much

to

prevent

security

through

national

self-help,

makes

possible

effective

international

policing

with

a

minimum

of

interference

with

the

sov-

ereignty

and

independence

of

national

states.&dquo;

This

report

elaborates

its

recom-

mendations

along

this

lines

(See

Com-

mission to

Study

the

Organization

of

Peace,

A

Ten

Year

Record

[1939-1949],

New

York.)

J.

EUGENE

HARLEY

The

University

of

Southern

California