5 THE POST-WAR DECLINE OF THE INTERNATIONAL STUDIES CONFERENCE 493of this, one might cite Holland’s advice to Mayoux in June 1946 that the
ISC should cast off its quasi-diplomatic pretensions and statements made
by Mayoux himself later that year to the effect that the ISC should be
reformed in conformity with the more radically democratic age that had
dawned.
In its early years of the ISC, its predominantly European make-up
was a cause of concern, particularly for those of its participants who
were active in the IPR. In light of this, the IIIC devoted a considera-
ble amount of effort to extending the geographic reach of the confer-
ence and in this it achieved remarkable results. Originating as a result
of collaboration between certain individuals in London, Paris and Berlin,
during its life the reach of the ISC extended across the Atlantic to the
Americas, northwards to Scandinavia, eastwards to Eastern Europe, the
Balkans, Greece and Turkey, and southwards to the Asia-Pacific region.
By the time of the Second World War, more than thirty national groups
were associated with the ISC.^221 While the number of national groups
involved in the ISC decreased to twenty-five in 1947, as of March 1950
it was claiming a membership of thirty-two national groups and five
international institutions.^222
some finAl reflections
Despite its rather undignified exit from the field of international intellec-
tual endeavours, the ISC’s efforts should not be disregarded. Its intellec-
tual lessons remain relevant and instructive and the study of its history
adds another significant layer to our understanding of the political and
(^221) Bonnet, Intellectual Co-operation in World Organization, 14. See also League of
Nations, International Studies Conference XIth Session, Economic Policies in Relation to
World Peace—A record of meetings held in Prague on May 25 and 26, 1938, ii-v, AG
IICI K-X1-23, UA, and 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, i, iv.
(^222) Although Malcolm W. Davis resigned from the position of general rapporteur at the
session of the ISC held in September 1949, he participated in the 1950 ISC study meeting
on teaching. He was the only American national to do so. For his resignation as the chair
of the ISC’s executive committee, see ‘The Fourteenth Session of the International Studies
Conference,’ 93. For the ISC’s membership for 1947 and 1950 see UNESCO, ‘Conseil
exécutif,’ XIV (1950), 20-21-22 Sessions, 20 EX/2 (SS)-11, March 21, 1950, UA.