The World Bank’s Impact on International Law a Case-Study in the International Law of Cooperation

Abstract

By his concern with and emphasis on an emerging “international law of cooperation” Wolfgang Friedmann greatly contributed to our perception and understanding of the current state of the international legal process.1 In contrast to the traditional “international law of coexistence,” which he saw as consisting mainly of rules of abstention concerned with the delimitation of national sovereignty, the law of cooperation is “concerned with the organization and implementation of joint endeavors on a binational, regional, or multinational level directed to human welfare.” This law has an affirmative thrust; it deals with substantive, rather than jurisdictional, issues, thus reaching deep into the internal life of nations. Its consequent sensitivity to differences in “political, economic and social structure and principles,” makes it depend for its existence and operation on the perception of common interests by the parties involved. As a result, it has grown mainly on a regional basis; on the universal or quasi-universal level, it is found chiefly in two types of areas: first, technically oriented fields, where the advantages from cooperation are immediate and easily perceivable (e.g., communications and transport); second, areas immediately affecting human welfare, in particular those relating to assistance for the development of less developed countries.