INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW

Abstract

This chapter highlights how, since its inception, international economic law has changed in many ways and is likely to continue to change in the future. Political and economic challenges have partly shaken international economic law and partly led to the development of new frameworks for the analysis of international economic relations. For example, the historical (post-colonial) origins of the regime are increasingly brought into focus, but so are questions of Global South participation in international financial organisations, and environmental and human rights vulnerabilities. Three sub-chapters address the three main fields of international economic law. The first sub-chapter outlines actors, sources, and substantive and procedural guarantees crucial to understanding international investment law’s undeniable innovation and inevitable shortcomings, to help better understand current policy issues in the quest for a more balanced regime. The second sub-chapter covers the history of international trade law, the inner workings of the World Trade Organization, the core disciplines of trade in goods and services, and the dispute settlement system. The last sub-chapter attempts to revisit the contours of international monetary law, studies how it has changed, and critically reflects on the many blind spots and omissions that future scholarship must aim to correct.