Today & Tomorrow
By Walter Lippmann
PREPARING FOR
THE SUMMIT
This week In Washington
the leading Western Foreign
Ministers will be holding the
first of three meetings to pre
pare lor the summit in Paris
on May 16. The second meet I
n .mnpnig ing will iae(
-wist, f place in istan-;
a bul early in !
' - H- I .u
j- ' -iny, aim me I
h O f third in Paris
5 B lust before the
summit meet-
JiV. 7J Ins itself. Sec-
declared
at 4h0
lter .
Linpmann P r e p aratory
meetings the Foreign Min
isters will be "trying to re
solve among ourselves, the
Western powers, what Issues
we feel It is desirable to raise
at the conference" in May.
As the series of meetings
begin, the controlling lact is
that there is no big issue
which all the Western powers
think it is desirable to raise.
There is nothing that all of
them, indeed any of them,
urgently want to do. At bot
tom they are united in the
feeling that on the crucial
question - which turns on the
two Gcrmanys and the two
Berlins - the situation as it
Is, Is good enough, and that
the best thing to do would be
to leave it alone.
Adenauer and de Gaulle
most insistently, Macmillan
and Eisenhower acquiescing,
believe that the Western
position at the summit must
be to stand pal on the status
quo, and to be prepared to
make tactical moves to re
puse or to divert any Soviet
move to change the status
quo.
IN THEORY, the Western
nations want more than
the status quo. In theory, they
want the re-unification of the
two Germanys. In theory,
they want the liberation of
Eastern Europe. In theory,
they want a reduction of arm
aments. But In fact they have
no hope that any of these
goals can be reached at a
price which they are willing
to pay.
In fact, Western Europe Is
prospering mightily although
Germany and Berlin are divi
ded. In fact, Western Europe
is not afraid of war although
the Red Army is on lis fron
tiers. For the status quo ap
pears to them to be so secure
and is in fact so profitable
that the problem of the sum
mit meeting is how to go there
and how to come away from
there without changing any
thing and without losing face.
rpHE unresolved question
"about the summit Is
whether the Soviet Union is
so dissatisfied with the status
quo that It will run any ser
ious risk In order to change
It. Nobody knows. We can
only guess.
The worst that Mr. K. has
threatened us with Is that
he will sign a separate peace
treaty with the East German
state, will leave It to the East
Germans to argue It out with
us about our access to West
Berlin, and will stand ready
to support the East Germans
if they provoke us Into using
military force. This threat,
which originally had a time
limit attached to It, was very
considerably softened at the
Eisenhower-Khrushchev meet
ing at Camp David.
The Soviet threat Is now In
definite and rather ambigu
ous. It is not a very terrifying
threat because the risk, If the
worst came to worst, Is fully
as great for (he Soviet Union
as for the United States and
Its allies. Mr. K. must know
by this lime that while we
cannot stop him from signing
a treaty with East Germany,
signing that treaty will not
change the status quo. West
ern access to West Berlin can
not he blocked. At most it
can be harrnsscd.
A PART from the special
il problem of Berlin, Ihere
I an underlying agreement
with the Soviet Union. This
agreement can never be ad
milted and formalized In a
treaty. The agreement It that
the status quo with the two
Germanys is tolerable. It Is
not the best that either side
wants. But it is not the worst
that either side fears. This tin
avnwed and unavowable con
sensus reflects the balance of
power which, for the lime
being at least, is equal enough
FOREIGN CURRENCY PAY
Washington -OTIu The Sen
ale Foreign Relations Commit
tee voted Wednesday to au
thorize the government to pay
American troops abroad In
foreign currency. The meas
ure was aimed at halting
dibck marKct activities
U.S. dollars.
to produce a diplomatic stale
mate. If this is a correct estimate
of the situation, it follewi
that the problem of the sum
mit will be little like the
problem at the Republican
convention in July. It li to
find something interesting
and useful to talk about.
"Disarmament" Is the ob
vious subject to talk. For It
li in inexhaustible subject
for diplomats who have to
talk - because talking helps
to keep the peace. It it a
subject about which no one
expects serious and far
reaching agreement. Dr.
Adenauer, for example, who
wants to do nothing about the
central issue In Europe, wants
to Itlk about disarmament.
For disarmament, like the
synthetic dog bones flavored
with ham which are now for
sale, gives the diplomats some
thing to chew on.
rpHIS Is not a cynical view
-- of the summit meeting. If
it sounds cynical, that is be
cause the Western powers
want to be united and there
fore have to be unanimous;
they are going to the summit
not to make things better but
to prevent them from becom
ing worse. They are prepar
ing, the tactics of a defensive
campaign - no retreat but also
no advance - and they will be
well-satisfied if the net re
sults is nobody's gain and no
body's loss.
The best that can be said of
this defensive position is that
it can probably be held for
some little time to come. The
worst that can be said of it
is that it cannot be held indef
initely and that it is not a
policy with which to look for
ward to the future. For there
is no slightest reason to thjnk
that In a place like West Ber
lin or in the morbid relation
ship of the two Germanys,
time is on the side of the
West.
(c) New York Herald
' Herald Tribune Inc.
16
MAIL TRIBUNE, Midlers', Of.
A Thundiy. April 14, 160
OUR "GOOF"
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