Sovereign Rules And The Politics Of International Economic Law

How ought scholars and students to approach the rapidly expanding and highly multidisciplinary study of international economic law? Academics in the field of international political economy used to take for granted that they worked with the overarching concepts of rules and governance, while legal scholars analyzed treaties and doctrines. However, over the past twenty years formerly disparate fields of study have converged in a complex terrain, where academic researchers and governmental policy analysts use a pluralistic set of theoretical and methodological tools to study the ongoing development of international economic law. This volume argues that the extensive development of international economic law makes it impossible to discuss international political economy and international law as if they were mutually exclusive processes, or even as if they were separate and mutually reinforcing. Rather, we must think of them as a deeply interconnected set of rapidly evolving activities. This is a paradigm shift in which we cease to think about an international system in which politics and law interact, and begin to think about an international system in which politics take place in a legal frame. Froese terms this a shift from politics and law, to the politics of international economic law. This book does for political economy what others have already done for law – introduces political scientists, economists, and other practitioners of IPE, to the potential of engaging with legal theory and method; it will be of great interest to scholars in a range of areas including IPE, global governance, IR and international law.

How do politics and international economic law interact with each other? Financial crises and shifts in global economic patterns have refocused our attention on how the fingerprints of the 'visible hand' can be seen all over the institutions that underpin the rules of globalization. From trade and investment to finance, governments are under pressure to enforce, resist and rewrite international economic law. Lawyers have seldom given enough attention to the influence of politics on law, whereas political scientists have had an on-again, off-again fascination with how the law influences relations among states. This book leads the way toward filling this interdisciplinary gap, through a series of important studies written by leaders in the field on specific problems in international economic relations. The book demonstrates a variety of ways in which the international political-economic nexus may be researched and understood.

The concept of state sovereignty is increasingly challenged by a proliferation of international economic instruments and major international economic institutions. States from both the south and north are re-examining and debating the extent to which they should cede control over their economic and social policies to achieve global economic efficiency in an interdependent world. International lawyers are seriously rethinking the subject of state sovereignty, in relation to the operation of the main international economic institutions, namely the WTO, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The contributions in this volume, bringing together leading scholars from the developed and developing worlds, take up the challenge of debating the meaning of sovereignty and the impact of international economic law on state sovereignty. The first part looks at the issues from the perspectives of general international law, international economic law and legal theory. Part two discusses the impact of trade liberalisation on the sovereignty of both industrialised and developing states and Part three concentrates on the challenge to state sovereignty created by the proliferation of investment treaties and the significant recent growth of investment treaty based arbitration cases. Part four focuses on the domestic and international effects of international financial intermediaries and markets. Part five explores the tensions and intersections between the international regulation of trade and investment, international human rights and state sovereignty

This book brings together a series of contributions by international legal scholars that explore a range of subjects and themes in the field of international economic law and global economic governance through a variety of methodological and theoretical lenses. It introduces the reader to a number of different ways of constructing and approaching the study of international economic law. The book deals with a series of different theoretical agendas and perspectives ranging from the more traditional (empirical legal studies) to the more alternative (language theory) and it expands the scope of substantive discussion and thematic coverage beyond the usual suspects of international trade, international investment and international finance. While the volume still gives due recognition to the traditional theoretical project of international economic law, it invites the reader to extend the scope of disciplinary imagination to other, less commonly acknowledged questions of global economic governance such as food security, monetary unions, and international economic coercion. In addition to historically-focused and critical perspectives, the volume also includes a number of programmatic and forward-looking explorations, which makes it appealing to a broad audience with a variety of contrasting interests. Therefore, the volume is of particular interest to academics and postgraduate students in the fields of international law, international relations, international political economy, and international history.

Principles of International Economic Law provides a comprehensive overview of the central topics in international economic law, with an emphasis on the interplay between the different economic and political interests on both the international and domestic levels. Following recent tendencies, the book sets the classic topics of international economic law, like WTO law, investment protection, commercial law and monetary law in context with aspects of human rights, environmental protection and the legitimate claims of developing countries. The book draws a concise picture of the architecture of international economic law with all its complexities, without getting lost in fragmented details. Providing a perfect introductory text to the field of international economic law, the book thoroughly analyses legal developments within their wider political, economic, or social context. Topics covered range from codes of conduct for multinational enterprises, to the human rights implications of the exploitation of natural resources. The book demonstrates the economic foundations and economic implications of legal frameworks. It puts into profile the often complex relationship between, on the one hand, international standards on liberalization and economic rationality and, on the other, state sovereignty and national preferences. It describes the new forms of economic cooperation which have developed in recent decades, such as the growing number of transnational companies in the private sector, and forms of cooperation between states such as the G8 or G20. This fully updated second edition covers new aspects and developments including the growing importance of corporate social responsibility, mega-regional-agreements like CETA, TTIP, and TPP, trade and investment related aspects of human rights law.

Herdegen's Principles of International Economic Law has established itself as a leading textbook in the field. This fully updated third edition covers areas of growing relevance in international economic law, including corporate social responsibility, challenges for WTO law, the impact of human rights and environmental law, and cryptocurrencies.

Principles of International Economic Law provides a comprehensive overview of the central topics in international economic law, with an emphasis on the interplay between the different economic and political interests on both the international and domestic levels. Following recent tendencies, the book examines classical topics of international economic law - such as WTO law, investment protection, commercial law, and monetary law - in context with emerging aspects of human rights, environmental protection, and the legitimate claims of developing countries. A perfect introductory text to the field of international economic law, the book thoroughly analyses legal developments within their wider political, economic, or social context. Topics covered range from codes of conduct for multinational enterprises, to human rights implications of the exploiting natural resources and the legal impact of climate protection. The book demonstrates the economic foundations and economic implications of legal frameworks. It puts into profile the often-complex relationship between, on the one hand, international standards on liberalization and economic rationality and, on the other, state sovereignty and national preferences. It describes the newly developed forms of economic cooperation between states, such as the G7, the G20, or the BRICS. Herdegen's Principles of International Economic Law has established itself as a leading textbook in the field. This fully updated third edition covers new aspects and developments, with a particular focus on corporate social responsibility, challenges for WTO law, mega-regional agreements such as CPTPP, the impact of human rights law and environmental standards, and cryptocurrencies.

This volume scrutinises the main challenges faced by States in their current international economic relations from an interdisciplinary perspective. It combines legal research with political and economic analysis and favours dialogue among scientific disciplines. Readers are offered a series of in-depth studies on a rich variety of topics: how to reconcile States’ interest to benefit from economic liberalization with their need to pursue social goals (such as the protection of human rights or of the environment); recent developments under WTO law and regional integration processes; international cooperation in the energy sector; national regulatory developments in the banking sector, sovereign wealth funds and investor-State arbitration.