The international exchange of ideas is a historic process which has, on the whole, been profitable to the participants. What we are witnessing currently, however, is a more deliberate effort to select those ideas which can be applied to specific needs, or provide nations with guidance in the solution of their problems. In addition, there is an ongoing search for new approaches to expand the areas of cooperation among the different peoples of the world.Many factors are combining to produce this emphasis. The accelerated rate of communication and increased economic and political interdependence have both supplied us with greater knowledge and made such a search more imperative. International agreements, understandings, conferences, and working parties have brought about a greater unanimity of purpose and goals among nations. The adoption of formal or informal national growth targets and social goals has similarly hastened the degree of understanding and comparability among nations. Many countries with common interests have formed formal groups for the collective solution of their problems and are consequently confronted with the need either to harmonize their standards or even to establish uniform ones for work, labor, and social conditions.
