The report of Ireland’s permanent representative to the United Nations to his superior, the secretary of the Department of External Affairs, delivers his account of Aiken’s first (failed) attempt to generate support for a resolution in the Thirteenth UN Session. Recognizing the breadth and depth of opposition, he withdrew his draft resolution and instead requested a simple roll call vote in favor of the second paragraph on 31 October – a modest statement acknowledging that an expansion in the number of nuclear weapons states would be harmful to peace and increase obstacles to disarmament. The measure passed with 37 votes and no opposition, although 44 abstentions were recorded. The Soviet bloc supported the maneuver, while Western-aligned countries abstained.  

Aiken made an immediate impression on his arrival in the Twelfth Session of the UN General Assembly in September 1957. He adopted an impartial posture of assessing each issue on its merits and campaigning to remodel international politics around self-determination, humanitarianism, and peace. His exhortation was that only the UN had the moral authority and political legitimacy to put forward global solutions. While he did not propose nuclear disarmament measures specifically, his intent was signaled by his recommendation for a mutual drawback of foreign forces (including their nuclear weapons) in central Europe and his endorsement of a proposal to discuss the representation of China in the United Nations. The Eisenhower administration was hostile to Aiken’s course as outlined in the U.S. ambassador’s audience with Taoiseach Eamon de Valera and Aiken in Dublin on 2 October. The record underlines the Irish concerns about accidental nuclear war due to the proximity of opposing U.S. and Soviet forces in central Europe.  

Kohl and Clinton have a wide ranging discussion on NATO expansion, crises in the Balkans, Chechnya and Northern Africa, relations with Europe, and other subjects.

Khrushchev meets with and answers questions from an Iraqi Peace Delegation, including strategies for preventing war in the Middle East, the suspension of nuclear weapons testing, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, current situations in Algeria, Yemen, Oman, and Iran, and the possibility of the Soviet Union building a pilot hospital in Baghdad.

Nikita Khrushchev comments on the alliance between the United States and NATO and the growing number of nuclear weapons in Western Europe, specifically Great Britain. The document also discusses US aircraft flights over the Soviet Union and the Algerian War of Independence.

Zhou and Nasser discuss domestic conditions inside of Egypt, the Sino-Indian border war, and the possibilities for a nuclear weapons free zone in Africa and the Middle East.

A summary of Zhou Enlai's conversation with Kwame Nkrumah that covered Sino-Ghanian relations, China's status at the UN, liberation movements in Africa, Sino-Indian relations, the Non-Aligned Movement, nuclear weapons free zones in Africa, and the Congo crisis, among other subjects.

The document records a conversation between Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and Algerian President Ben Bella, focusing on their shared opposition to imperialism and their support for Vietnam's struggle against US aggression. They discuss international dynamics, including the Soviet Union's inconsistent stance on Vietnam, Algeria’s efforts to mediate regional conflicts, and broader issues affecting Asia and Africa, such as the Second Asian-African Conference and United Nations reform. Both leaders emphasize the importance of solidarity among socialist and anti-imperialist nations while critiquing the actions of imperialist forces in Africa and Southeast Asia.

This document summary was generated by an artificial intelligence language model and was reviewed by a Wilson Center staff member.

Cable from the Chinese Embassy in Algeria describes positive responses of foreign government officials stationed in Algeria on China's first nuclear weapons test.

France’s staging of atmospheric and underground tests in Algeria became increasingly untenable when neighboring African countries protested and even temporarily broke diplomatic relations with Paris. Once Algeria became independent in 1962, French authorities made plans to develop a test site in Polynesia.