Countries in acute payments difficulties generally seek the support of the International Monetary Fund. IMF credits are granted subject to compliance with economic conditions that have repeatedly given cause for criticism. The two articles that follow, by Jörn Altmann and Joachim Betz, examine...

International environmental law is highly fragmented and national legislation differs widely. General principles for drafting environmental standards would facilitate harmonisation. The article examines the general principles that could be applied at international level.

While the traditional export promotion and import substitution strategies have largely failed to boost development in the Third World, rigorous dissociation from the industrialized countries cannot be regarded as a realistic strategy either. More promising seems a combination of partial...

Regional associations between developing countries have so far often proved to be less than successful. This, Professor Altmann points out, is hardly surprising in view of the lack of homogeneity of socio-political and economic systems among member countries, without which any integration...