Herbert Brownell, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, yesterday cited efforts of the United Nations to find a peaceful settlement of Israel-Arab differences as a demonstration as an example of effective application of UN influence “without the use of collective force of arms.” He described the Middle East peace-making efforts of the UN as “mighty.”
Addressing a meeting of the Connecticut State Bar Association, Mr. Brownell declared that the basic concept of the UN Charter was that, in dealing with violations of international law, “resort in the first instance should be to the force of world opinion, then to the force of economic and other sanctions, and only as a last alternative should there be resort to the collective force of arms.”
He said he was convinced that the International Court of Justice, which the Eisenhower Administration has repeatedly favored for the settlement of such issues as the Egyptian blockades of Israel shipping in the Suez Canal and the international status of the Gulf of Akaba, “must play an increasingly larger role in the pacific settlement of international disputes.”
He warned, however, that “at present the Court’s functions are severely limited, particularly in the fact that the Court has no contempt authority to enforce its decisions”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.