The Resolution of Interdependence
Conquering the Seven Deadly Trends

A Call to Conquer the Seven Deadly Trends
Through the Strengthening of the United Nations
And the Development of World Law

To the President of the United States and Members of Congress:

We the undersigned, petition the President of the United States and members of Congress to support a vigorous international effort to conquer the seven deadly trends, which are 1) the thermonuclear threat to all life on earth, 2) destruction of rain forests, 3) global warming, 4) ozone depletion, 5) acid rain, 6) population explosion, and 7) all forms of military aggression.

We urge the swift reinstatement of the foreign policy approach of great American Presidents who stressed the need for collective security in foreign affairs.  Among them were Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and George Herbert Walker Bush.

President Woodrow Wilson was the Father of the League of Nations, and in a very real sense the Father of the United Nations.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt worked tirelessly to establish the United Nations and then admonished us to change and adapt it to new times.

John F. Kennedy called for the development of world law in speeches as a Senator on December 11, 1959 and on June 14, 1960, and as President in his Inaugural Address, in an address before the United Nations on September 25, 1961, in remarks after signing the bill creating the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency on September 26, 1961, in his Third State of the Union message on January 14, 1963, in his commencement address at American University on June 10, 1963, and in his last address at the United Nations on September 20, 1963, where he also proposed a worldwide program of, conservation.

While President Kennedy was the most dedicated and persistent leader in the fight to strengthen the United Nations and develop world law, President Truman called for the strengthening of the United Nations in his State of the Union Address, July 26, 1946.  He also organized a United Nations police force that protected the sanctity of the Republic of Korea and contained North Korean aggression.

President Eisenhower called for the development of “a world community under law,” and the strengthening of The International Court of Justice.

Calling his foreign policy approach The New World Order, President George H.W. Bush organized the whole world in opposition to Iraqi aggression against Kuwait.

We the undersigned oppose the radical departure in foreign affairs under George W. Bush. The practice of preemptive first strike has furnished an example that, if followed by other nations, can only break down trust and international order.  Furthermore, it has weakened the United Nations and our traditional free world alliances and destroyed our moral authority throughout the world.

We ask that the people of all nations join us in an effort to conquer the seven deadly trends described in the Resolution of Interdependence that follows.  We have signed this petition to be sent with the Resolution of Interdependence as a working paper for the President of the United States and members of Congress.

The Resolution of Interdependence

CONQUERING THE SEVEN DEADLY TRENDS

Origin:              Joseph A. Bagnall
Submitted by: Joseph A. Bagnall

WHEREAS, the seven deadly trends are 1) the thermonuclear threat to all life, 2) destruction of rain forests, 3) global warming, 4) ozone depletion, 5) acid rain, 6) population explosion, and 7) all forms of military aggression, and

WHEREAS, the seven deadly trends have been identified and defined, and if they are not resolved internationally, they will rapidly destroy civilization as we know it, and

WHEREAS, unregulated and uncontrolled nuclear weapons will eventually destroy our planet, and

WHEREAS, destruction of rain forests is altering life-sustaining atmospheric conditions and threatening to radically change earth’s climate, and

WHEREAS,  man-made gasses are polluting the atmosphere, creating greenhouse gasses that in turn create a canopy effect that produces global warming, which in turn is melting the earth’s glaciers and polar ice caps and will inevitably threaten earth’s shorelines and alter the world map, and

WHEREAS, man-made gasses have torn earth’s protective ozone shield and created, according to NASA, a hole larger than the North American Continent, and

WHEREAS, destruction of earth’s protective ozone layer will result in severe damage to all forms of life, and

WHEREAS, acid rain is rapidly destroying lakes and forests, chiefly in Northeastern United States, Canada, and Europe and has been destructive of many monuments and statuary in our world, and

WHEREAS, population explosion brings attendant environmental and political problems worldwide, and

WHEREAS, all forms of military aggression break down international order and pose the possibility of escalation into nuclear war, and

WHEREAS, deadly environmental and thermonuclear trends call for the enforcement of collective remedies, and

WHEREAS, great American Presidents such as  Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kenned, great American jurists such as Chief Justice Earl Warren, great American journalists such as Walter Cronkite, and great American scientists such as Albert Einstein and Edward Teller have all called for solutions to world problems through the development of world law, and

WHEREAS, the great British historian, Arnold Toynbee has called for one world and the collective choice of life over death, and

WHEREAS, former Soviet leader Michael Gorbachev has called for a world security system to halt war and curb environmental deterioration, and

WHEREAS, Pope John XXIII has issued an Encyclical titled, Pacem in Terris, in which he praised the United Nations and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adding that he looked forward to the day when there is “a judicial and political ordering of the world community . . . when every human being can find in this organization (the U.N.) an effective safeguard of his personal rights . . . ,” and

WHEREAS, President Harry S. Truman has protected the sanctity of the 38th parallel and the Republic of Korea with a United Nations stand against North Korean aggression, and

WHEREAS, President George Herbert Walker Bush has furnished the world with an excellent model of collective security when his “New World Order” curbed Iraqi aggression against Kuwait and left U.N. inspection teams in place in Iraq, and

WHEREAS, it now seems important to create a permanent world security system based on a common and widely utilized political structure, and

WHEREAS, many nations are governed under federal systems, including the former Soviet Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, and others, it seems that a federal system should be considered for world governance, and

WHEREAS, the American federal system has survived the transition from agricultural to industrial society, the challenge of civil war, many economic crises, and two devastating world wars, and

WHEREAS, the American federal system has emerged in the 21st Century as the structure of the super power of the world, and

WHEREAS, the American federal system has protected wildlife and millions of acres of national forest reserves and set aside many national parks, and

WHEREAS, the American federal system has provided a framework for the elevation and enfranchisement of debased minorities, and

WHEREAS, the American federal system has institutionalized freedom and harbored ideological differences and debate, and

WHEREAS, the American federal system has fostered pluralism and diversity in ethnicity and religion, and

WHEREAS, the American federal system has curbed tyranny with a system of checks and balances between three separate branches of American government, and

WHEREAS, the American Supreme Court has rendered decisions based on the ideals of the American Bill of Rights, and

WHEREAS, America’s federal system features an effective division of power between the national government and the states, and

WHEREAS, American federalism has furnished subsidies, incentives, and contracts to private companies for the development of federal highways, railroads, airlines and various other national improvements, and

WHEREAS, the creation of a world federal system based on the model of the American federal system would be the ultimate American triumph, now, therefore, we the undersigned highly

RESOLVE, to work for the development of a world federal system patterned after the American model; and be it also

RESOLVED, that this world federal system should:

1)   protect its rainforests, its wildlife, and its oceans, just as the American federal system has protected its wildlife and millions of acres of national forests and national parks;

2)   provide a framework for the elevation of debased minorities, just as the American system has accommodated the elevation and enfranchisement of debased minorities;

3)   promote and implement the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, just as the American system has promoted and implemented the ideals in the American Bill of rights;

4)   base the decisions of the International Court of Justice on the ideals expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, just as the decisions of the American Supreme Court are based on the ideals expressed in the American Bill of Rights;

5)   foster and maintain a climate of pluralism and diversity, in the tradition of the American system;

6)   curb tyranny with separation of powers and checks and balances between a strengthened Security Council, General Assembly, and The International Court of Justice, just as tyranny is curbed in the American system with a system of separation of powers and checks and balances between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches;

7)   divide power between world authority and national authority, just as power is divided in the American system between the national government and the states;

8)   furnish subsidies, incentives, and contracts to private companies for the development of alternatives to destructive fossil fuels throughout the world, just as subsidies, incentives and contracts have been given to private companies for various national projects in the United States; and

9)   regulate international corporations for the welfare of mankind, just as corporations have been regulated by the United States Government, and be it also

RESOLVED, that we do denounce force and military aggression in favor of actions based on the consent of the governed, as we involve the people of the world in the building of a world federal system patterned after the American model, and be it finally 

RESOLVED, that we the undersigned agree to promote this Resolution of Interdependence with a sense of utmost urgency, born of the conviction that thermonuclear and environmental trends could end civilization in the 21st Century.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned 

 

Documentation - End Notes

(1)        Bagnall, Joseph A. The Kennedy Option: Pursuit of World Law. University Press of America, 2002.

(2)        _______, The Politics of Survival:  Resolving the Seven Deadly Trends.  McGraw-Hill, 1997.

(3)        _______.President John F. Kennedy’s Grand and Global Alliance: World Order for the Century. University Press of America, 1992.

(4)        Bush, George Herbert Walker.  “The Possibility of a New World Order.” Vital Speeches of the Day,” May 15, 1991.

(5)        Cronkite, Walter.  A Reporter’s Life:  Walter Cronkite.  Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.

(6)        Einstein, Albert. “Peace in the Atomic Era,”  Vital Speeches of the Day.  March 1, 1950.

(7)        _________Einstein on Peace.  Simon and Schuster, 1960.

(8)        Gorbachev, Mikhail. “The River of Time,” The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Jl/Ag, 1992.

(9)        Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight David Eisenhower, Containing the Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President of the United States, January 1, 1960 to January 20, 1961.  Washington, D.C.: U. S. Government Printing Office

(10)      Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, Containing the Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, January 20, to December 31. 1961. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962.

(11)      Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy.  Containing the Messages, Speeches and Statements of the President, January 1, to November 22, 1963. Washington, D..C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964.

(12)      Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, Containing the Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, January 1, to December 31, 1946. Washington, D.C.:  U. S. Government Printing Office, 1962.

(13)      Teller, Edward. The Legacy of Hiroshima.  Doubleday and Company, 1962.

(14)      Toynbee, Arnold J.  “It is One World or No World,” New York Times Magazine.  April 5, 1964. See also “Conditions of Survival” Saturday Review.  August 29, 1964, pp. 24-26+.  

(15)      U. S. Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 86th congress, Second Session, Vol. 106, part 10, June 14, 1960 to June 22, 1960.  Washington, D. C.: U. S.. Government Printing Office, 1960.

(16)      Warren, Earl.  “World Peace through Law,”  Vital Speeches of the Day, April 15, 1966.

(17)      Wooley, John and Gerhard Peters.  www.presidency.ucsb.edu/  Documents. Party Platforms. Democratic 1960.  Excerpt of Plank on the United Nations.

(18)      Zevin, Ben. (Ed.) Nothing to Fear: The Selected Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932- 1945.  Popular Library, 1962.

 

Bibliography

Books

Anderson, Anthony B.  Alternatives to Deforestation.  Columbia University Press, 1994.

Aron, Raymond L.  Theories of Nuclear Strategy. New York: Doubleday, 1965.

Bolin, Bert.  A comparative History of Social Responses to Climate Change: Ozone Depletion and Acid Rain. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 2000.

Brower, Michael.  Cool Energy: the Renewable Solution to Global Warming. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Union  of Concerned Scientists, 1990.

Clark, Grenville and Louis B. Sohn.  World Peace through World Law. Harvard University Press, 1973.

Commoner, Barry, et al, Alternative Technologies for Power Production, New York: Macmillan Information, 1975.

______, Making Peace with the Planet, with bibliography. New York: Pantheon Books, 1990.

______, Toward a Livable World¼  Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1987.

______, Who Speaks for Man? New York: Macmillan, 1953

Douglas, Scott. et al., The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate. Norton, 1998.

Ehrlich, Paul R.   Extinction:  The causes and Consequences of the Disappearance of Species. New York: Random House, 1981.

______, and Anne H. Ehrlich. The Population Explosion. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990.

______, and Richard L. Harriman. How to be a Survivor. New York: Ballantine Books, 1971.

______, The Population Bomb. New York: Ballantine Books, 1968.

______, The Science of Ecology. New York: Macmillan, 1987.

Einstein, Albert.  Einstein on Peace. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960

Ellerman, A. Denny, et al., Markets for Clean Air: The U.S. Acid Rain Program. Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Elliot, Richard.  Ozone Diplomacy: New Directions in Safeguarding the Planet. Harvard University Press, 1997.

Faminow, Merle B.  Cattle, Deforestation, and Development in the Amazon, Oxford University Press, 1998.

Firor, John.  The Changing Atmosphere: A Global Challenge. Yale University Press, 1992

Gardner, John F.  The Secret of Peace and the Environmental Crisis. New York: Myrin Institute, 1978.

Gore, Al.  Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit. Houghton Mifflin, 1992.

Harvey, Danny.  Global Warming: The Hard Science.  Prentice Hall, 1999.

Hocking, Collin, et al.,  Global warming and the Greenhouse Effect. University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Hall of Science, 1999.

______, Acid Rain.  University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Hall of Science, 1999.

Hoffman, Bruce.  Inside Terrorism. Columbia University Press, 1999.

Hoffman, Peter.  The Forever Fuel: The Story of Hydrogen.  Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1981.

Houghton, J.T.T. et al., Global Warming: The Complete Briefing. Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Kennedy, John F.  The Strategy of Peace.  New York: Harper, 1960.

Kennedy, Robert F.  To Seek a Newer World. New York: Doubleday, 1968.

Leggett, Jeremy K.  Global Warming: The Greenpeace Report. Oxford University Press, Inc., 1990. Lesser, Ian, et al.,  Countering the New Terrorism. Rand Corporation, 1999.

Lippman, Morton.  Chemical Contamination in the Human Environment. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.

Miller, Morris.  Debt and Environment, Converging Crises. New York: United Nations, 1991.

Mylorie, Laurie.  Study of Revenge: Saddam Hussein’s Unfinished War Against America. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy, 2000.

Nordhaus, W.D. and Joseph Boyer.  Warming the World: Economic Models of Global Warming. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 2000.

Peters, Robert L. and Thomas E. Lovejoy.  Global Warming and Biological Diversity. Yale University Press, 1994.

Pillar, Paul R.  Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy.  Brookings Institution Press, 2001.

Riggs, John A. and Roger W. Sant.  After Kyoto: Are there Rational Pathways to a Global Sustainable Energy System? Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, 1998.

Reich, Walter.  Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind.  Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998.

Schell, Jonathon.  The Fate of the Earth.  Morrow, 1982.

______, The Fate of the Earth and the Abolition.  Stanford University Press, 1999.

Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion, 1998.  UN Environment Programme, 1998.

Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr.  A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1965.

Sorenson, Theodore C.  Kennedy. New York: Harper, 1965.

Stern, Jessica. The Ultimate Terrorists.  Harvard University Press, 2000

Victor, David.  The Collapse of the Kyoto Protocol and the Struggle to Slow Global Warming.  Princeton University Press, 2001.

Welner, Jonathon.  Planet Earth.  New York: Bantam Books, 1986.

______, The Next One Hundred Years: Shaping the Fate of Our Living Earth, New York: Bantam Books, 1991.

 

American Advocates of World Law

Acheson, D.G. “Law and the Growth of the Institutional Community,” U.S. Department of State Bulletin, 26:694 - 698 My 5’52.

______, “ Revamping the U.N. to Meet Aggression, ”U.S. News and World Report, 29:60 - 63. S 26 ’ 50.

Byrne, James F. “U.S. Views on Charter Review,” U.S. Department of State Bulletin, 29:649 - 650 N 9 ’53.

Clark, G. “Need for Total Disarmament under Enforceable World Law,” Current History, 47:93:96 Ag ’64

Cousins, Norman. “What is World Law?” Saturday Review,  48:24 - 25 Ag 14 ’65.

Dulles, J. F. “Revision of U.N. Charter” U.S. Department of State Bulletin, 29:343 S 14 ’53.

______, “U.N. Charter Obsolete from the Start,” U.S. News and World Report, (September 4, 1953), 35:89 - 91 S 4 ’53.

______, “What the U.N. Is and Might Be,” New York Times Magazine, p.10, O 24 ’48.

Einstein, Albert “Peace in the Atomic Era,” Vital Speeches, 16:302 Mr 1 ’50.

Eisenhower, Dwight D. and Richard Nixon. “Should U.S. Support World Law?” Foreign Policy Bulletin, 38:132 My 15 ’59.

______, “President Expresses Views on World Court and Disarmament,” exchange of letters between D.D. Eisenhower and H.H. Humphrey, with bibliography, U.S. Department of State Bulletin,  42: 128 - 130 Ja 25 ’60.

Finletter, T.K. “Timetable for World Government“ Atlantic, 177:53 - 60 Mr ’46.

Fleming, D.F. “Eisenhower’s Quest for Peace,” Nation, 191:521 - 525 D 31.

Fulbright, J.W. “Outlook for Peace: Sovereignty Must Give Way to Law,’ Vital Speeches,  12:358 - 360 Ap 1 ’46.

Goldberg, Arthur J. “Coming of Age of the U.N., ” U.S. Department of State Bulletin, 55:492 - 496 O 3 ’66.

______, “Rule of Law in an Unruly World,” U.S. Department of State Bulletin, 54:936 - 944 Je 13 ’66.

Herter, Christian A. The Rule of Law among Nations,”with bibliography. U.S. Department of State Bulletin, 37:223 - 228 Ag 5 ’57.

______, and W.P. Rogers, “Self Judging Aspect of the U.S. Reservation on Jurisdiction of the International Court,” U.S. Department of State Bulletin, 42:227 - 232 F 15 ’60.

______, “United Nations, A Cornerstone of U.S. Foreign Policy,” U.S. Depart-ment of State Bulletin, 41:507 - 508 O 12 ’59.

Johnson, L.B. “Direction and Control of Nuclear Power,” U.S. Department of State Bulletin, 51:458 - 460 O 5 ’64

______, “Russia, China, and England: Our Basic Policy Remains Unchanged.” Vital Speeches, 31:34 - 36 N 1 ’64

______, and A.J. Goldberg. “World Peace through World Law,“ U.S. Depart-ment of State Bulletin,  53:542 - 548 O 4 ’65

Larson, Arthur. “Road Map for the U.N.” Saturday Review, (April 28, 1962),45:11 - 13 Ap 28 ’62.

Lodge, Henry C. “ Review of the U.N. Charter,” U.S. Department of State Bulletin, (March 22, 1954), 30:451 - 452 Mr 22 ’54.

______, “U.N. Emergency Force, Responsibility for All Members,” Department of State Bulletin, 41:919 -922 D 21 ’59.

MacArthur, Douglass. “Can War be Outlawed from the World?”  U.S. News and World Report,  38:86 - 88 F 4 ’55.

“Memorandum to President Truman: Excerpts from the Federalist Papers,” Saturday Review of Literature, 31:20 Mr 27 ’48.

“Nixon Champions the Rule of Law,” Life,  46:36 Ap 27 ’59.

“Nixon Urges Greater Use of World Court,” Christian Century,  76:507 Ap 29 ’59.

Rusk, Dean.  “Building a Recent World Order,” U.S. Department of State Bulletin, 53:27 - 30 Jl 5 ’65.

Stevenson, Adlai E.  “A. Stevenson’s Last Article: Outline for a New American Policy,” Look, 29:7 1 - 72 Ag 24 ’65.

______, “American Tradition and Its Implications for International Law, ” with bibliography, U.S. Department of State Bulletin, 45:959 - 965 D 11 ’61.

______, “Fundamental Meaning of the United Nations: A World of Law and Justice,” Vital Speeches, 32:615 - 617 Ag 1 ’65.

______, “Past, Present, and Future of the U.N.,” New York Times Magazine, p. 12, Ja 14 ’62.

______, “United Nations: First Step Toward a World Under Law,“ U.S. Depart-ment of State Bulletin,” 45:68 - 71 Jl 10 ’61.

Taft, Robert A.  “Law and Justice, The Base of Peace,” Vital Speeches, 14:15 - 20 O 15 ’47.

“Toward a Rule of Law,” Senator Humphrey’s Resolution. New Republic,142:5 - 6 My 9 ’60.

Truman, Harry S.  “From USA to USW?” President Truman’s Call for transfor-mation of the U.N. into a full-fledged world government. Christian Century, 63:166 - 168 F 6 ’46.

______, “Truman Message on a United Nations Police Force,” Current History,39:171 - 174 S ’60.

______, “United Nations. Cornerstone of U.S Foreign Policy,” U.S. Depart-ment of State Bulletin, 27:529 O 6 ’52.

Welles, Sumner. “The Atomic Bomb and World Government,” Atlantic, 177:39 - 42 Ja ’46.

Other Prominent Advocates of World Law

Gorbachev, Mikhail.  “The River of Time,” May 6, 1992 address at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,48:22 - 24 + Jl/Ag ’92.

Toynbee, A .J.   “Conditions of Survival,” Saturday Review, 47:24 - 26 + Ag29 ’64.

______, “It is One World or No World,” New York Times Magazine, p.28, Ap5 ’64.

“What We Are For: Summary of New Encyclical on World Peace,” by Pope John XXIII,” Time, 81:60 + Ap 19 ’63.

 

President John F. Kennedy-A Select Bibliography

Chronologically Arranged

Kennedy, John F.  “Disarmament,” D 11 ’59, in Alana Nevins, (ed) Senator John F. Kennedy: The Strategy of Peace. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1960.

______, “A New Twelve Point Agenda in Foreign Policy,” U.S. Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debated of the 86th Congress, Second Session, Vol. 106, Part 10, June 14, 1960. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1960, pp 12523 - 12526. Point Eleven calls for world peace through the development of world law.

______, “A Grand and Global Alliance,” Excerpt from the Inaugural Address, Ja 20, 1961, in Joseph A. Bagnall, (ed) President John F. Kennedy’s Grand and Global Alliance: World Order for the New Century  Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1992.

______. “A Truce to Terror,” Address before the General Assembly of the United Nations, S 25 ’61, Ibid., pp. 27 - 37.

______, “Establishing the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency,”Remarks upon Signing the Bill, S 26 ’61, Ibid., pp. 39 - 40.

______, “The Third State of the Union Message,” Excerpt. 1 14 ’63, Ibid., pp. 45 - 46.

______, “Disarmament is Our Goal,” Address Delivered at Commencement, American University at Washington, D.C., 6 10 ’63, Ibid., pp. 47 - 51.

______, “A Test Ban Treaty is Announced,” A Television Address to the People, 7 26 ’63, Ibid., pp. 53 - 59.

______, “Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,” Remarks at a News Conference, S 12 ’63,Ibid., pp. 61 - 62.

______, “One World, One Human Race With One Common Destiny,” Address before the General Assembly of the United Nations, S 20 ’63, Ibd., pp. 61 - 71.

______, “U.S. Participation in the United Nations, ” 17th Annual Report to the Congress of the United States, N 20, ’63, Ibid., pp. 79 - 82.