The Collection and Distribution of Current Materials for Teaching International Law

One of the recurring problems involved in the teaching of international law is the availability and accessibility of documents of current relevance. The social utility and pedagogical advantage of dealing with actual or pending problems needs no amplification. Yet, subjects appearing in university catalogues under such progressive epithets as a modern, contemporary or current law of nations are based, for the most part, upon case book materials of a rather ancient vintage. It is not surprising that the future opinion leaders of a society acutely conscious of the role of popular opinion in the formation and application of policy and, now, painfully aware of the necessity for anticipatory rather than posterior private action should find the role as well as the teaching of international law increasingly irrelevant. In point of fact, international law is as vigorous as ever and has more potential at. this time for influencing international behavior than in earlier periods; but this is rarely conveyed in formal educational programs. The strong impulse toward teach-ins for facts and opinions about the most critical national and international problems emphasizes the lacuna in formal law courses