At its 100th anniversary, the American Society of International Law released a brochure, “100 Ways International Law Shapes Our Lives”. At the 101st Annual Meeting of the Society, the President, José E. Alvarez, used the occasion of his annual address to present “The Future of Our...

This essay critiques common rationales offered for establishing new global courts or tribunals to address terrorism, acts by ISIS, corruption, human trafficking, human rights abuses committed by states, businesses, and international organizations, and the rights of foreign investors. It argues...

The essay critiques prevailing descriptions of investor-state arbitration (ISDS) that see this mechanism as a form of ‘public' adjudication requiring exclusively ‘public law' reforms going forward, culminating in, as the European Union has recently suggested in the course of negotiations for...

The TPP's investment chapter pursues a reform path within the existing international investment regime that many other states, including the US, support. But the fact that mega-regionals like the TPP may advance the economic and security interests of hegemons does not mean that, on balance, they...

International rule of law fixes should take into full account the special features of the existing international legal system, including, as noted, its reliance on contested, iterative interactions among diverse political and legal forums. Those arguing that the rule of law requires the Security...

This essay addresses the tools by which international lawyers engage in interpretative “boundary crossings” across distinct international regimes, such as those involving trade, investment, and human rights. It distinguishes the traditional tools of treaty interpretation, such as those...

This essay surveys the criticisms directed at international investment agreements (IIAs) and their reliance on investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) as well as the leading reform venues that have been addressing them: UNCTAD, ICSID, and UNCITRAL. It argues that despite these ambitious...