The Principle of Sovereign Equality of States as a Basis for International Organization

AT the historic conference held in Moscow in October, 1943, the Governments of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China jointly declared that they recognized "the necessity of establishing at the earliest practicable date a general international organization, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peaceloving States, and open to membership by all such States, large and small, for the maintenance of international peace and security."' The extraordinary importance of this statement for the fate of the world after this war justifies the present attempt to examine the question whether the principle of "sovereign equality" of States proclaimed by the Declaration of Moscow can be the basis of an international organization ensuring a lasting peace.I.