Team Play

Western expectations of what might be accomplished at Berlin generally ranged from fear--that the West might somehow be tricked out of its wallet--to a conviction, especially among the professionals, that the West's diplomats would probably be lulled, dulled and bored to death by the mechanical clatter of familiar Russian propaganda. Even the most optimistic resigned themselves to a long preliminary wrangle about seating arrangements, topics and procedure.

Instead, an agenda was adopted in two days. In five days, though the U.S.S.R. dodged and twisted on the way, the Big Four Foreign Ministers were actually discussing the subject for which the conference was called. It was still no strong portent that any agreement could be reached in Berlin. But, as one Berlin newspaper put it: "Even a genuine inventory of intentions would be progress." The inventory was already being made.

The Team. At the table, Molotov, when confronted with a coordinated opposition, proved surprisingly pliant on procedure--though not on program. Another surprise was to see the Western Big Three, who often make headlines by their differences, functioning as smoothly as a basketball team. They were prepared, they were assured, and they refused to be diverted or divided. Much of this new drive came from John Foster Dulles.

Dulles regards Molotov as one of the most resourceful diplomats of the 20th century, but he does not fear to tangle with him, for he is confident that the West is in a sounder position. He refused to be frustrated by procedural trivia. He yielded when opposition was time wasted. He forced the pace when the Russians sought delay. "If conferences can do nothing better than to create new conferences, and the new conferences do nothing better than to create more new conferences . . . the whole conference method will become an object of ridicule, and we with it," he warned Molotov at one point.

Man-to-Man Passes. When the conference took up Germany, Britain's Eden announced the West's plan. Dulles backed it up, while Bidault, whose country has the most to fear from a resurgent Germany, made the most eloquent plea for the plan.

Such neat man-to-man passing around the conference table was the result of intensive groundwork outside. For months a working-level group, on which the U.S. was represented by State Department Counselor Douglas MacArthur II (nephew of the general),-- held consultations in Paris exploring the divergencies in each nation's policies, and mapped out the areas of fundamental agreement. In Berlin, the same group met daily last week, before each session, to coordinate tactics and policies.

After each had gone over what the tripartite group had decided upon, Dulles, Eden and Bidault conferred for half an hour before the day's session. The result in the first week (see below) was a unity that Molotov had yet to dent.

At the end of the first week, the West still had the initiative, still led on points.

* And Britain by Frank Roberts, France by Francois Seydoux.

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