5 THE POST-WAR DECLINE OF THE INTERNATIONAL STUDIES CONFERENCE 463and independence’ of the conference and that it was understood that this
was in the interest of both parties.^120 That UNESCO was interested in
bringing the conference under its umbrella was reflected in the status
and number of observers from UNESCO who attended the Paris meet-
ing. In addition to De Blonay, UNESCO was represented by Mahomed
Bey Awad, an Egyptian geographer who was head of its Social Sciences
Division and Wilson. This last, who had already written to Mayoux
about UNESCO’s desire for a ‘close working relationship’ with the ISC
and about the ‘mutual interests’ of the two bodies, also affirmed at the
Paris meeting that any such relationship would not impair the ISC’s
independence.^121
At the same time and based on certain remarks made at the Paris
meeting, it would seem that those members of the ISC desirous of a rela-
tionship with UNESCO felt that the prospect of such relationship should
not be taken for granted. It was perhaps this feeling that caused some at
the Paris meeting to articulate a conception of the ISC that was tailored
to fit UNESCO House thinking. Some insisted that the ISC should be
more than simply an organisation of scholars and a forum for their pro-
fessional concerns: it should engage with ‘mass interests’.^122
Scelle, like other French participants in the meeting, favoured the idea
that the ISC should forge a relationship with UNESCO. He maintained
in this regard that the aim of the ISC should not be to ‘engage in pure
science,’ this being, he added, the proper object of a teaching institution.
(^120) International Studies Conference, Verbatim report of the XIIIth Administrative session,
December 16 and 17, 1946, at the Centre d’études de politique étrangère de Paris, IICI-K-
XIV-12, UA, 75.
(^121) Annex 3: Letter concerning the relationship between UNESCO and the International
Studies Conference, Howard E. Wilson to Jean-Jacques Mayoux, October 29, 1946, and
Annex 4: Letter concerning the relationship between UNESCO and the International
Studies Conference, Wilson to Mayoux, December 12, 1946, International Studies
Conference, International Studies Conference, Verbatim report of the XIIIth Administrative
session, December 16 and 17, 1946, at the Centre d’études de politique étrangère de Paris,
IICI-K-XIV-12, UA. For the views of Mahomed Bey Awad, André De Blonay and Wilson
on the role of UNESCO, see Vitray, ‘UNESCO: Adventure in Understanding,’ 24–25, 27.
Mayoux and Vranek had attended a meeting on the invitation of Wilson on November 4. At
this meeting, in addition to Wilson, was De Blonay and Mahomed Bey Awad. Also present
were two councillors from the Social Sciences Division one of whom was Arvid Broderson.
See Jiri F. Vranek to Malcolm W. Davis, November 19, 1946, AG 1-IICI-K-V-2.d, UA.
(^122) H. Howard Arnason, representative of the United States to UNESCO, 1946, quoted
in Vitray, ‘UNESCO: Adventure in Understanding,’ 26.