he was not far wrong, for the limitations of Italian power made it impossible for Mussolini, in 1939, to carry out his intention of siding with Germany in the war". Second World War and domestic politics (1939–1951) During the Second World War, Perth worked for the Ministry of Information as a senior bureaucrat. After the war, he served until his death as a deputy leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords. His involvement with the party did not slow its decline in electoral and ideological influence. Legacy In regards to the security role of the League, his role could be assessed as negligible, especially for the second half of his tenureship, which was characterised by the systematic undermining competition of the great powers, notably Britain and France and the security structure impaired by 19th-century imperialism of the League: its council. His pragmatic and co-operative approach resulted in some successes in the early years of the League, but his role is considered inadequate when it was confronted with issues such as the Manchurian Crisis. His involvement in setting the organizational infrastructure in areas such as the dealing with refugees, the minority regime and the mandate system could be seen more positively since during his time, especially during the first half of the 1920s, had some successes in resolving and tackling issues, such as the 1925 Greek–Bulgarian Conflict in 1925 and the 1932-1933 Colombia–Peru War. However, it was the technical issues, such as humanitarian aid and the supervision of a series of "technical organizations and committees", in which he had the most enduring positive legacy. Drummond was part of an international technocratic elite of experts that favoured the initiation of international standards in health and labour issues, the gathering and the sharing of statistical information and a spirit of internationalism to deal with problems. After his post at the League, he was assigned to the post of ambassador to Fascist Italy. A combination of his own restricted ability to see the overall situation and Britain's strategy of appeasement of fascist regimes that he served could account as a failure and quite possibly the darkest period of his career. The non-resolution of the Ethiopian Crisis had the effects of undermining League's security role and sending the wrong signals to both Mussolini and Hitler. Drummond, as the British ambassador to Italy, was one of the actors who failed to anticipate the