Abstract
The end of the WWII, first in Europe and then in the Asia-Pacific theatre, coincided with the phase of construction of the UN. Neither Italy nor Japan could aspire to be among the original members of the UN. Firstly, the admission was conditional to the conclusion of the respective peace treaties. Therefore, the Italian government decided to submit its request for the admission to the UN in 1947. However, between 1945 and 1947 the question of the admissions to the UN had become one of the issues of the diplomatic clash in the initial phase of the Cold War, and was subject to the mutual vetoes of the P5 members of the UNSC. In the Asia-Pacific region the events of war and the diplomatic dynamics of post-WWII had rhythms that were partially different from those of Europe. These trends were accentuated by the foundation of the PRC and the outbreak of the Korean War. The changes generated significant debate in the UN, and they took place in the context of Japan signing the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951. Meanwhile the issue of UN membership had become a complex question in which at least three of the crucial questions of the time were tied up: the legacies of WWII, the tensions of the Cold War, the changes deriving from the process of decolonisation. In the meantime the international reintegration of Italy and Japan was proceeding at other levels, as it was also highlighted by the entry of the two states into the financial institutions of the Bretton Woods system, and the progressive engagement with various UN agencies. Nevertheless the UN membership issue continued to be suspended and became topical again in 1954-1955. The turning-point were changes that occured in international relations during 1955, with the diplomatic compromise of a ‘package deal’ and the UN admission of 16 countries, Italy among them. These changes were completed by the UN admission of Japan in 1956.
This paper is part of a research on Multilateral diplomacy and international organizations in historical perspective.
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Mugnaini, M. (2014). The Admissions of Italy and Japan to the United Nations: History and Diplomacy. In: Beretta, S., Berkofsky, A., Rugge, F. (eds) Italy and Japan: How Similar Are They?. Perspectives in Business Culture. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-2568-4_17
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