Various forces and tendencies contending in the world of ideas bear directly on the identity of each person. The nation, the tribe, the state, the “ethnie” or sociocultural group, international institutions, and several nongovernmental transnational actors, including the great religions—all contend for adherents. Two things stand out in this cacophony: first, that individuals, nowadays, may have more than one affiliation; and, second, that affiliative choices increasingly can be made by individuals acting autonomously.

Since its first transatlantic use in 1901, the radio has proven a remarkably powerful and versatile tool. It was used to incite racial hatred in Nazi Germany, Bosnia and Rwanda. Through Vatican Radio and other outlets, it has been harnessed to inspire love and peace. It has been used as an implement both to wage war and to coordinate relief activities in the aftermath of disaster. International broadcast stations like Radio Free Europe and Radio Martí have been viewed by some as a force of liberation, and by others as a tool of imperialism and hegemony.

In the last few years, many proposals have been made requiring either changes in the administration and financing of the United Nations or a revision of the Charter of the United Nations. While some progress has been made in the first category of problems, to the extent that they require primarily changes in the working of the United Nations Secretariat, it became quite obvious that a revision of the Charter is not likely to be made in the near future. It may be possible, however, to achieve important changes in the functioning of the principal organs of the United Nations—the Security Council, the General Assembly and the International Court of Justice—without revision. Pending a change in the international situation, various steps can be taken in the interim that would considerably improve the functioning of these organs, and achieve some of the desirable goals by measures that, while not ideal, will provide practical solutions for a few important problems. Several such solutions are investigated in the three sections of this essay.

Growing awareness of the economic exploitation of millions of children around the world has catapulted the issue of child labor into the public eye and brought it to the forefront of debate within governments, international organizations and the business sector. Arousing diverse interests, the debate juxtaposes the multilateral trade regime with international law governing labor standards and human rights. Each of the charters establishing the primary international organizations for cooperation in those areas is premised on the interdependence of economic and social progress. Nonetheless, the legal norms governing the various regimes differ in their scope and application to child labor, and formal linkages do not exist between the multilateral trade regime and international supervisory bodies dealing with labor standards and human rights.

The creation of the independent Inspection Panel in 1993 by identical resolutions of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association (World Bank or Bank) has been well analyzed elsewhere. What has not been noted is the actual practice of the Inspection Panel, as well as the evolving impact on international law of the cases brought before this innovative institution associated with the World Bank.