The Future of International Law
Global Government
ASIL Studies in International Legal Theory Series

The world is changing rapidly and there are increasing calls for international and legal responses. Social changes in areas such as globalization, development, demography, democratization and technology are growing in importance for both citizens and states. Over time this will be reflected in international law and organizational structures, which will have more prominence in governmental functions. In this sense the future of international law is global government. This book draws together the theoretical and practical aspects of international cooperation needs and legal responses in critical areas of global concern and predicts that a more extensive, powerful and varied international legal system will be needed to cope with future opportunities and challenges.

1. Introduction: the crisis in international law; 2. Reasons for international law and organization; 3. International law and organization as a system for transnational political linkage; 4. The futurology of international law; 5. Cyberspace; 6. Human rights; 7. Environmental protection and public health; 8. Global regulation of finance; 9. Economic liberalization: trade, intellectual property, migration, and investment; 10. Fragmentation, synergy, coherence, and institutional choice; 11. International legal constitutionalization; 12. Conclusion: functionalism revisited.

Joel P. Trachtman is Professor of International Law at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. The author of more than eighty scholarly publications, Professor Trachtman's books include The International Law of Economic Migration: Toward the Fourth Freedom (2009), Ruling the World: Constitutionalism, International Law, and Global Governance (2009), Developing Countries in the WTO Legal System (2009), The Economic Structure of International Law (2008) and International Law and International Politics (2008). He has consulted for the United Nations, the OECD, APEC, the World Bank, the Organization of American States, and the US Agency for International Development. He has served as a member of the boards of the American Journal of International Law, the European Journal of International Law, the Journal of International Economic Law, the Cambridge Review of International Affairs and the Singapore Yearbook of International Law.