[Robert Howse is the Lloyd C. Nelson Professor of International Law at NYU School of Law] When International Law Works is a wide-ranging work with many important and original claims and arguments. Particularly congenial is the approach that the real world effects of international law be examined not through narrow studies of rule "compliance" but in a manner that takes into...
Professor Wilde’s comments are, as always, most thoughtful. If I understand the thrust of his post correctly, Professor Wilde is concerned that if I am to present a theory built on universal values, then I should examine carefully if the values I identify are indeed universal and if other important values are left out. In particular, Professor Wilde...
I am glad that there is very little distance between me and Professor Ku. We both agree that legal theory does not have to be predictive to be successful. In this regard, Professor Ku finds my theory compelling “as a matter of politics and policy.” Professor Ku implies, however, that may have set too low a bar in attempting...
[Ralph Wilde is a Reader at the Law Faculty at University College London, University of London] It is a great pleasure to participate in the debate about this important and ambitious book. Tai-Heng Cheng deserves our attention for his impressive attempt to grapple with the fundamentals of international legal theory, and to do so as so few others seem willing...
I agree with Professor Cheng that legal theory does not have to be predictive to be successful. But I wonder if he sets the bar a bit too low. In his previous post, he writes: Providing a framework of analysis to address international problems, to guide but not control, is perhaps the best that can be done. It may also be...
Professor Ku’s review of When International Law Works is most insightful. I thank him for it. His “short bloggish description” of its thesis is as clear a summary of my book as I’ve been able to muster in two sentences. I confess I will probably appropriate it when I present the book at Temple Law School later this week. Professor...
Americans are furious. Officials are out of touch with the rest of us. If we thought about it, we should be angry that officials do not take international law more seriously. That is just another way that the people we send to Washington do not understand what we really need. American workers whose retirement funds hold GM stock should want to...
Opinio Juris is very pleased to host a Roundtable this week on Professor Tai-Heng Cheng’s recent book, When International Law Works: Realistic Idealism After 9/11 and the Global Recession (Oxford University Press). The Roundtable will proceed throughout the week and feature a fascinating and diverse group of discussants. Professor Cheng and I will kick off the discussion today, followed later...
I am very grateful to Kal Raustiala, Peggy McGuinness, Austen Parrish and Sarah Cleveland for taking the time to read my book – and I’m even happier that they liked it. They each make a number of important points, and I’ll now take the opportunity to respond to some of them. Kal is right in saying that one of my goals...
Louis Henkin Professor of Human and Constitutional Rights, Columbia Law School. From 2009-2011, the author served as Counselor on International Law to the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State. The views expressed here are personal and do not purport to reflect the views of the U.S. government. The period since September 11, 2001 has seen significantly heightened interest in...
In Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights Treaties: Law, Principles, Policy, Marko Milanovic has written an illuminating and comprehensive analysis of the increasingly contested question of the geographic scope of human rights treaties. Of course, this is a dynamic area of law—as Marko notes, many of the cases he examines are of quite recent vintage—so undoubtedly he will be at work...
I am very grateful for the opportunity to discuss my book on EJIL: Talk! and Opinio Juris, as am I grateful to the commentators on both blogs for taking the time to read and discuss it. In this introductory post I’ll try to outline the book’s main arguments and themes and my approach generally in analysing a very complex topic. The...
