What shapes jurisprudence in international law? States dedicate considerable effort trying to influence not only the outcome, but also the content, of legal rulings. The stakes are high, as these legal opinions can redefine the meaning of the rules. Looking at the World Trade Organization, we...

At a time when multilateral trade negotiations are failing, the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) is widely seen as the paragon of legalized dispute settlement and is thought to play a key role in liberalizing world trade. We ask a simple empirical question with...

The participation deficit in global governance is usually blamed on power politics; we argue it may actually reflect strategic behavior by excluded countries themselves. In the WTO, member-states affected by a trade dispute can join litigation as `third parties' to gain access to otherwise...

Third parties complicate WTO dispute settlement by adding voices and issues to a dispute. However, complainants can limit third parties by filing cases under Article XXIII of GATT, rather than Article XXII. Why do some countries make settlement more difficult by promoting third parties? We argue...