Functional International Organization

Abstract

T HE implications of international economic interdependence are penetrating the prejudices of an increasing number of people. This is not to say that isolationism is dead, but merely that there is probably greater agreement today than ever before that isolationism leads to economic rivalry and ultimately to war. Accompanying this trend in thinking is the feeling that effective international organization is essential to world peace. There is not, however-in this country at least-a very clear popular understanding of what an international organization can or cannot be expected to accomplish. Some enthusiasts who confuse international organization with world government sometimes arouse fears that militate against the establishment of what might otherwise prove to be an effective beginning toward the joint solution of problems that cut across national boundary lines. To date, to be sure, the record of international organization as a preventative of war has not been impressive, even though in certain fields, such as labor, international machinery has been successful in influencing nations to pursue more progressive policies than they probably otherwise would have done. There is growing appreciation that unless underlying economic problems are solved, there can be no enduring peace. Poverty, hunger, disease, and the fear of unemployment provide a fertile field for demagogues and warmongers. Solutions to these fundamental problems require co-ordinated national action. Developments in transportation and communication have made the peoples of the world more interdependent, rather than more independent. The effects of crop failure or industrial depression in any part of the world, for example, are soon felt by people thousands of miles away.