396 Between Yesterday and Tomorrow (1914– )
ideological blocs reduced the collective security machinery of the United
Nations (UN)— the replacement of the League of Nations— to in eff ec tive-
ness. Bright hopes for major advances in international criminal law and the
law of human rights were soon dimmed. Th e new version of the World
Court had little business and even less impact on the conduct of states. Nor
were arbitrations between states much in evidence. Th e immediate postwar
de cades, while vibrant ones in so many ways, were not, on the whole, a glori-
ous period for international law.
Retribution and Hope
Th e atmosphere of the early postwar period was one of frantic innovation,
with the UN as only one of many international organizations established to
bring order to the world. Th e International Labor Or ga ni za tion, which had
largely fallen into disuse, was relaunched. For assisting with world economic
matters, two bodies were established at a conference in Bretton Woods, New
Hampshire, in 1944: the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World
Bank (offi cially, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Develop-
ment). At a conference held in Havana in 1947, provision was made for an
International Trade Or ga ni za tion. At the UN, plans were put forward for in-
ternational control of the remarkable new technology known as atomic en-
ergy. International solidarity appeared to be in the very air. As one historian
put it, “[i]nternationalism was the thing to do, and everyone was doing it.”
Th ese were especially exhilarating days for international lawyers of the
liberal persuasion. Th e dream of eff ective collective security was now resus-
citated, with the defective League of Nations to be replaced by (it was hoped)
the new and improved system of the UN. If nothing else, both of the major
world powers were (apparently) fi rmly committed to the idea. In addition,
one of the major concerns of nineteenth- century liberalism— the rights of
individuals— was now given a higher priority than ever before. Th is pro-
gram had both a negative and a positive face: negative in the form of the
criminal prosecution of those who committed atrocities, and positive in the
form of the establishment of legal safeguards for ordinary people. Th e real-
ization gradually set in, however, that progress in the real world would fall
dispiritingly short of ambition.