FW 840.20/5–2148
Memorandum by the Director of the Policy Planning Staff (Kennan) for the Secretary and Under Secretary of State
I enclose a memorandum,1 prepared by Mr. Butler, concerning the problem of a North Atlantic security pact in the light of recently expressed British and Canadian views.
I think the statements of the Canadian Foreign Minister,2 as cited in this memorandum, add a new and important element to this problem.
In the light of these statements and of Mr. Bevin’s memorandum,3 I think we must be very careful not to place ourselves in the position of being the obstacle to further progress toward the political union of the western democracies. We should proceed with the soundings envisaged in the National Security Council paper4 and should attempt to establish all the facts bearing on the possible effect of opening the question of a North Atlantic security pact. Until that has been done, I think we should be equally careful not to encourage the project to a point where we arouse false hopes but also not to throw so much cold water on it as to put ourselves in the position of obstructionists.
From what Balfour told us, no one in England is deceiving himself that there would be any chance of getting ratification on a security pact before the next Congress. What they hope is that by consenting [Page 129] to conduct discussions along these lines we will keep the ball rolling and keep up the hopes of peoples in Europe. This strikes me as reasonable; and I think Mr. Bevin’s memorandum should be answered in this spirit.
- Memorandum to Kennan by George H. Butler of the Policy Planning Staff, dated May 21, 1948: not printed. 840.20/5–2148.↩
- Statements by Louis Stephen St. Laurent in his speech of April 29, 1948, in the House of Commons.↩
- Kennan is apparently referring here to the message of May 14. See p. 122.↩
- Presumably NSC 9/2 dated May 11, 1948. See letter from Kennan to Lovett, May 7, with related footnotes and enclosure, p. 116.↩