The able American Ambassador to France, Charles E. Bohlen, has declared before a Senate Committee that the withdrawal of France from the NATO integrated commands was “probably the most serious event in European history since the end of the war.” In weighing this assessment, one might well keep in mind de Tocqueville’s reminder that “what we call essential institutions are often only the institutions to which we are accustomed.” Yet there is little question that the French move was a significant development in postwar Europe. The purpose of this article is to explore some implications of this development for the international system and for the international legal order.

In the decade since the Convention on the Continental Shelf was framed at Geneva, the possibilities of reaching and using the mineral resources of the ocean have continued to open up at an unprecedented rate. Exploitation of oil and gas deposits in the continental shelves is now a commonplace, and such production has become an important part of the world’s normal supply. The technological frontier, pushed forward by the explosion of interest in the ocean sciences during the last few years, is now advancing into the deep sea beyond the limits of the geographical shelves, and the pace may be expected to accelerate in the next decade.

The significant rôle for the specialized agencies contemplated by the Charter of the United Nations is reflected in the constitutions of those agencies. It is the purpose of this paper to analyze, on a comparative basis, one aspect of the constitutional law of intergovernmental agencies related to the United Nations, viz., the flexibility of their constitutions. This study should reveal the degree of adequacy of this ingredient, so essential to the viability of these important international institutions.

Selection of a library can be a troublesome problem for the lawyer advising clients with international problems. Fortunate is he whose office is but a stone’s throw from the library of a great law school or one of the few Bar Association libraries with the knowledge and funds to enter the foreign field. Most lawyers must get along with the relatively few materials which can be made available in their office or in the local law library.