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Metaphors Of International Law, Harlan G. Cohen

Scholarly Works

This chapter explores international law in search of its hidden and not-so-hidden metaphors. In so doing, it discovers a world inhabited by states, where rules are mined or picked when ripe, where trade keeps boats forever afloat on rising tides. But is also unveils a world in which voices are silenced, inequality is ignored, and hands are washed of responsibility.

International law is built on metaphors. Metaphors provide a language to describe and convey the law’s operation, help international lawyers identify legal subjects and categorize situations in doctrinal categories, and provide normative justifications for the law. Exploring their operation at …

...And Trade, Harlan G. Cohen

Scholarly Works

This short essay, part of a symposium on Gregory Shaffer’s Retooling Trade Agreements for Social Inclusion, argues that the normal science of trade law lacks the tools to confront trade law’s greatest current challenges. Instead, breaking out of trade law’s two-step politics, with its division of “growing the pie” and distributing its slices, and responding to new challenges of climate change, the digital economy, and artificial intelligence will require a new politics built on and designed to build new shared narratives embodying new policy paradigms.

What Is International Trade Law For?, Harlan G. Cohen

Scholarly Works

Events of the past few years, including the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom and the demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and election of Donald Trump as President in the United States, have reignited debates about the global trade regime. In particular, many have begun to question whether the trade regime has done enough for those who feel left behind by globalization. While some have held fast to the view that redistribution of trade’s gains is primarily a matter of domestic policy, others have suggested tweaks to the international trade agreements aimed at better spreading the wealth.

But what if …

The Nafta Package And The Environment: A Green Analysis Of Its Origins And Effects, Pedro M. Morales-Gomez

LLM Theses and Essays

When the presidential candidate Clinton announced that he would not support NAFTA without environmental and labor side agreements, and during the period before NAFTA's ratification by the American Congress, Mexicans lived in most tense suspense. Even though, the idea of an environmental side agreement seemed to please most environmentalists in Mexico who hoped that this would lead to creating a major environmental conscience in the Mexican government. The purpose of this thesis is to elaborate a critical analysis of the North American Free Trade Agreement, its related documents and their effects concerning the environment, specifically its legal protection. We will …

Private And Governmental Barriers Affecting International Market Contestability: Current And Prospective Remedies, Massimo G. Manzoni

LLM Theses and Essays

Several interesting developments indicate that world attention is increasingly focusing on a "novel" category of trade barriers: non-tariff and non-border barriers. Following the Uruguay Round (the eighth round of negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, "GATT"), scholars and officers of international organizations have expressed hope that international market contestability will become a major goal of future international policy negotiations. Their studies have focused on the links between trade policy and competition policy, and have concluded that anticompetitive business practices are a potent barrier to international market contestability and might cause a loss of confidence in the free …

The United States Export Control Laws And Regulations, Minzhi He

LLM Theses and Essays

The current system of United States export controls began with the Export Control Act of 1949. Following World War II, Congress passed this legislation to establish a strategic embargo against communist nations in an attempt to control trade to further the national security and foreign policy interests of the West. In 1969, Congress reformed the export control laws by passing the Export Administration Act of 1969 – which contained no inherent limits. However, the increasing tension between the U.S. business interests and the national security and foreign policy interests made Congress once again alter the legislation and the Export Administration …

Free Movement Of Goods Within The Economic Community Of West African States (Ecowas): Comparisons With European Economic Community (Eec), Theophilus Fuseini-Bart

LLM Theses and Essays

The Treaty establishing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)is substantially the same as the European Economic Community Treaty although it is not a carbon copy. To understand the subject matter of free movement of goods within the ECOWAS vis a vis the European Communities it will be necessary to discuss the genesis of the two Communities. Also important to discuss are the membership, institutions, and aims and objectives of both ECOWAS and the European Communities (EC). This will not only give a glimpse of the two Communities, especially ECOWAS which is more or less an obscure one, but …