THE TABLET. December 5th, 1959. VOL. 213. No. 6237
Published as a Newspaper
THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER & REVIEW
Pro Ecclesia Dei, Pro Regina et Patria
FOUNDED IN 1840
DECEMBER 5th, 1959
NINE PENCE
The Asian and African Laily: The Pope’s R ecognition o f th e ir G row ing R esponsibilities
PrincepS Pastorum: The New Encyclical on the Mission-fields
Uganda 1oday; The Old K ingdom s and the New P o litic ian s : II. By A d r ia n Hastings.
CHRISTMAS ROOK SUPPLEMENT Reviews by Dom Aelrcd Watkin, Q.S.B., Patrick McGrath, D. B. Wyndham Lewis, Elizabeth Sewell, Christopher Hollis, llltud Evans, O.P., T. F. Lindsay, Thomas Gilby, O.P., Denis Brass, Janet Bruce and
Maryvonnc Butcher.
THE PRESIDENT S TRAVELS
p R E S ID E N T EISENHOWER, setting out to cover a great deal of ground in a very short time, in true American fashion, represents an America which in the eyes of the uncommitted nations, as they like to think of themselves, is no longer a country primarily thinking in terms of military alliances. President Eisenhower himself, at the end of 1959. represents something very different from the Eisenhower Doctrine of 1957. This is the post-Dulles era ; but Dulles should be gratefully re membered as the man chiefly responsible for the change, i t cannot be proved th a t it was his refusal to be intimidated and his readiness to raise the stakes that convinced the Russian leaders, and M. Khrushchev in particular, that to go on in the Stalin tradition was too dangerous. But he was unyielding, and a change for the better followed. Dulles has been greatly criticised by people who forget the sequence of events—that the Russian and Chinese exploratory pressures came first, then the hardening of American policy, and th a t then, when it was clear that the Western statesmen could not be intimidated, there came the switch in the Communist line. M. Khrushchev in Hungary has just made it plain that it is a tactical switch, intended to assist the forward march of world Communism. President Eisenhower’s visit is an acceptance of the Communist challenge in its new form, a way of showing th a t it is America, ra ther than Russia, that means well by the world, and has the great advantage of not plotting political and social transform ation in other countries, but is prepared to accept and deal with them as they are.
We hope President Eisenhower’s visit may have the effect of making statesmen like Mr. Nehru prepared to state the tru th , which is that they are not really uncommitted ; th a t the kind of world they want is vastly closer to the world of the Atlantic Community than to the world of Moscow and Peking. The President’s visit could hardly have been better timed for Indian public opinion.
The President’s most difficult visits will be in Europe. Dr. Adenauer in Paris has had to impress on President de Gaulle and his closest advisers, like the French
Premier and the Foreign Minister, that the German public is growing restive at the apparent lack of French concern for the future of NATO and the European land frontier. It is unfortunate for Dr. Adenauer’s longrange policy th a t the drawn-out Algerian crisis, which is the reason why de Gaulle is in power, takes p re cedence in France of the European interest. It does not contradict that in te re s t ; on the contrary, the French continue to attach great importance to their European policy as a source of strength in their dealings with North Africa. But it is weakening NATO, and weakening Dr. Adenauer in his policy of preventing any discussion of Berlin that is not also a discussion of divided Germany.
No one thinks the Russians are prepared to discuss divided Germany except in terms of recognition for an East German State, which could then enter into a special relationship with the West German State, so that the result could evolve in a fashion parallel to that which has often resulted when Communists and nonCommunists come together in a Governm ent; in proportion as the association could be made a reality, it could be used to draw West Germany away from NATO and Dr. Adenauer’s European policy. The present signs are that any discussion about Berlin or Germany would be abortive, and that any summit conference will have to be about disarmament, and while there is some hope that the nuclear disarmament conference may go on slowly wending its way to some limited agreements, they may be kept for a summit, so that there should be something to show. The Russians are militarily committed to hold their European satellites, and are busily engaged in organising them into a common economic bloc.
The Italian statesmen in London this week represent a country which has managed to stay good friends with everybody, for Italian interests run with and not against the preoccupations of their various partners. Thus the Italians genuinely want the French to succeed in North Africa ; they had misgivings about trade competition from Algeria, but this is a much smaller thing
