Borgen on Treaty Conflicts

Just in time for beach reading season, I have just posted to SSRN my newest article, Resolving Treaty Conflicts, which is coming out in the George Washington International Law Review.

I grapple with the question of what States should do when they are signatories to multiple treaties (such as, say, a trade agreement and an environmental agreement) that frustrate each other’s goals. While there are rules that States have written to resolve these conflicts, I argue that the rules are not really followed much. In a world where treaties are rapidly proliferating, is there any principled way that these conflicts can be solved? And, if there is not, can one say that international law is a coherent legal system?

The abstract and download are available here.