Editotial: Updating International Organizations

Abstract

Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis. Times change, and we with them. This old wisdom also holds true for international organizations: times change, and international organizations with them. Most treaties that create international organizations are concluded for an indefinite period of time. It is obvious that, during their existence, the milieu in and for which the organization was created does not remain the same. Political, economic, technological, social, cultural, and other developments rapidly change our society. International organizations have to keep pace with these changes in order to remain capable of performing their functions and to avoid becoming irrelevant. In turn, international organizations are also created to assist in steering these changes and to shape conditions for future cooperation between members. As times change, how do international organizations develop and change? First of all, international organizations are instruments of change by definition. Woodrow Wilson was right when he stated that “a living thing is born” when he presented the first draft of the League of Nations Covenant.2 Constitutions of international organizations not only lay down rights and obligations of members, they also create organs having powers of their own. No matter whether these are International Organizations Law Review 2: 1– , 2005 ©2005 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.