442 J.-A. PEMBERTON
he too had his reservations: in informing Mayoux that in this view the
ISC’s activities should be resumed, he suggested that it would be timely
to consider once more the ISC’s organisation and procedures. In par-
ticular, Potter thought that attention should be paid to the pre-war criti-
cism that the ISC had not been sufficiently ‘independent of government
influence’.^53 Potter advised Mayoux that the future of the ISC might
well depend on the future of the IIIC, about which, he noted, there was
some uncertainty in light of the proposals for a new and comprehen-
sive international educational and intellectual centre which were being
aired at that time and which were destined to be addressed in London in
November.^54
Against this background, Mayoux organised an informal meeting of
the executive committee of the conference and some of the conference’s
members. This meeting took place on Sunday, November 18, 1945, at
Chatham House.^55 That arrangements were made to hold the meeting
in London and at this particular time, was because of the presence in
Europe of Davis who, despite his seemingly ambivalent attitude in regard
to the ISC’s future, continued in a role that he had enjoyed since 1935:
chair of the ISC’s executive committee. The location and timing of the
meeting was also informed by the fact that a great many members of
the ISC would be present in London in November: a great many mem-
bers would be among the various national delegations to the London
Conference on post-war international educational and cultural policy.^56
Despite the meeting’s convenient scheduling, Zimmern was unable to
attend: in a brief note written from his base at the Institution of Civil
Engineers, Zimmern informed Mayoux that in the ‘press’ of the London
(^53) Potter to Mayoux, April 23, 1945, AG 1-IICI-K-I-24, UA.
(^54) Ibid.
(^55) International Studies Conference: Report on the Informal (14th) Meeting of the
Executive Committee and Members of the Conference. London, November 18, 1945, AG
1-IICI-K-I-2, UA. Among the participants were figures who were associated with the ISC’s
pre-war activities: in addition to Davis, these included Waldorf Astor, Margaret Elisabeth
Cleeve; Halfdan Olaus Christophersen, Ivison S. Macadam, Charles Anthony Woodward
Manning, David Mitrany, Alfred Rappard, Toynbee and Vranek. The national committees
from America, Australia, Britain, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Mexico, New
Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland were represented at the Chatham
House meeting. The IPR was the only international organisation represented.
(^56) Jean-Jacques Mayoux to Pitman B. Potter, March 1, 1946, AG 1-IICI-K-I-24, UA.