Nation: New Assignment for Lodge

During his seven-plus years as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., absorbed a pertinent lesson: nations, even friendly ones, communicate and cooperate with one another slowly and formally. Nongovernmental groups can help bridge the gaps with speed and effectiveness. Last week Lodge, taking leave of absence from TIME INC., where he has been a consultant on international affairs, became the first director general of the new Atlantic Institute.

Established last January, the Atlantic Institute hopes to serve the NATO community as a channel of ideas and information between men on both sides of the ocean. It has prestigious, non-partisan backing. President Kennedy endorses the project and persuaded Lodge to take the post; U.S. representatives on the institute’s board of governors include U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson and former Secretary of State Christian Herter. Among distinguished European members are its chairman, Paul van Zeeland, a former Belgian Prime Minister; Antoine Pinay, a former French Prime Minister; and Paul-Henri Spaak, former NATO Secretary-General. On an initial budget of $350.000, contributed mainly by in dividuals, foundations, industry and trade unions, the institute will carry out research, sponsor conferences, act as an information clearinghouse. Among the institute’s assignments: to find ways and means to liberalize world trade.