496 Foreign Relations, 1958-1960, Volume IX



Gaulle's idea and in this respect the three were of a like mind. It was true
that the Foreign Ministers already met frequently and maybe it would
be better if they met even more frequently. However, he felt they might
broaden their consultations, not meeting just to discuss specific prob-
lems but to try to get a real unity of view. President Eisenhower inter-
jected the comment that this was not possible to achieve by directives, to
which the Prime Minister agreed.
    President de Gaulle said that a series of arrangements had been
tried from time to time during the past couple of years, but satisfactory
organizational machinery had not yet been found. We had agreed that
the Embassy Counselors should meet every month, without informing
NATO or Spaak that this was going on. He had recently sent a military
representative of considerable value to the standing group in Washing-
ton. This representative had tried to work closely with his American and
British colleagues but had become rather disheartened and the results
had not amounted to much. Of course, it must be recognized as a fact
that organizations exist, such as NATO and SEATO, which resist the de-
velopment of new organizational patterns. In any event, while the three
seem to agree on the general idea, it had not been possible to find a prac-
tical means to implement this agreement. He did not want to say things
which would sound unpleasant, but felt that we should learn from his-
tory and that we could talk freely and frankly among ourselves. For ex-
ample, at the time of the Egyptian crisis the West was in complete
disarray; perhaps in a new crisis over Berlin the same would be the case.
    President Eisenhower said that the meeting might note that the For-
eign Ministers were meeting again in Washington on May 31 at the time
of the SEATO conference. They could have discussions then and per-
haps it would be possible to require them to meet about every sixty days
or even more often. He was convinced that we could find a way to do
this without arousing suspicions of others. He recognized this might re-
quire even more travel on the part of the Foreign Ministers. However, if
our consultation was maintained at too low a level, he feared that many
things simply would not get done. In fact, the Heads of Government
might meet more frequently, too-preferably without creating any
complicated apparatus which would arouse suspicion or alarm. He was
not proposing that the three powers set up a directorate to run the
world. However the three had specific responsibilities and things to be
done-matters to be considered between themselves particularly. He
added that the procedure he suggested might cause some anguish to the
Foreign Ministers but he would point out that his own Foreign Minister,
in terms of the amount of travel he would have to do, would be at a two-
to-one disadvantage with respect to each of the others!
    President de Gaulle said that the Heads of Government must pay
tribute to their Foreign Ministers who, in fact, seemed to be all over the