Multilateral Treaty Participation Triggers Upward Leap in Sinic East

2021 ◽  
pp. 101-132
Author(s):  
Takashi Inoguchi ◽  
Lien Thi Quynh Le
Keyword(s):  
Multilateral Treaty

The Backlash Against Neoliberal Globalization from Above: Elite Origins of the Crisis of the New Constitutionalism

2021 ◽  
pp. 026327642199944
Author(s):  
Quinn Slobodian
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Steel Industry ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Neoliberal Globalization ◽  
Corporate Elite ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Status ◽  
Trade War ◽  
Multilateral Treaty

This article recounts the backlash against the neoliberal constitutionalism that locked in free trade and capital rights through the multilateral treaty organizations of the 1990s. It argues that we can find important forces in the disruption of the status quo among the elite losers of the 1990s settlement. Undercut by competition from China, the US steel industry, in particular, became a vocal opponent of unconditional free trade and a red thread linking all of Trump’s primary advisers on matters of trade. Steel lobbyists themselves helped frame a critique of actually existing neoliberal globalism, which Trump both adopted and acted on as part of his trade war. By searching for the contemporary attack on neoliberal constitutionalism among the disgruntled corporate elite, we find that our current crisis must be framed as a backlash from above as well as one from below.

Regional patterns of multilateral treaty cooperation: Is there a Latin American ‘commitment gap’?

2021 ◽  
pp. 019251212110364
Author(s):  
Carsten-Andreas Schulz ◽  
Laura Levick
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Country Level ◽  
American States ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Other World ◽  
Multilateral Treaty ◽  
Multilateral Treaties

Latin American states have long been active participants in multilateral treaty making. However, the rich history of Latin American legal activism contrasts with debates about the degree to which these states commit to international agreements. We probe the existence of this purported ‘commitment gap’ by analyzing the signing and ratification of multilateral treaties. Are Latin American states less likely to ratify agreements they have signed than states from other world regions? Using survival analysis of an original dataset on multilateral treaties deposited with the UN Secretary-General, we find no difference between Latin America and North America/Europe in terms of ratification. If a commitment gap exists, it appears to be more evident in other regions, particularly East Asia, Africa, and the Anglo-Caribbean. To the extent that there is a ‘commitment gap’ at the regional level in Latin America, it is unlikely to be due to country-level factors such as domestic institutions.

4 Interpreting the Energy Charter Treaty

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hobér Kaj
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Energy Charter Treaty ◽  
Written Form ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
Treaty Interpretation ◽  
The Law ◽  
Single Instrument ◽  
International Document ◽  
Multilateral Treaty

This chapter discusses the interpretation of the Energy Charter Treaty. The ECT is a multilateral treaty during the negotiation of which approximately fifty States participated, albeit to varying degrees. It goes without saying that in such a setting, there are many competing interests to take into account, often resulting in ambiguous treaty provisions. Indeed, almost every dispute based on the ECT involves issues of treaty interpretation. The law applicable to the interpretation of treaties is international law, unless the parties to the treaty in question have agreed otherwise. For all practical purposes, the most important international document when it comes to treaty interpretation is the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Article 2(1)(a) of the Vienna Convention defines ‘treaty’ as ‘an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation’. There is little doubt that the ECT is covered by this definition. Article 26(6) of the ECT provides that disputes under it are to be resolved on the basis of its provisions and ‘applicable rules and principles of international law’. The chapter then considers Articles 31—3 of the Vienna Convention, which deal with the interpretation of treaties.

2 The Energy Charter Treaty: An Overview

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hobér Kaj
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Energy Sector ◽  
National Treatment ◽  
Governmental Organization ◽  
Investment Protection ◽  
Energy Charter Treaty ◽  
Settlement Of Disputes ◽  
Multilateral Treaty

This chapter provides an overview of the Energy Charter Treaty. Developed on the basis of the European Energy Charter of 1991, the Energy Charter Treaty is a multilateral treaty dealing with inter-governmental co-operation in the energy sector. It covers five broad areas in the energy sector: trade; investment protection; transit; environmental protection and energy efficiency; and settlement of disputes. The trade provisions of the Treaty were designed to import fundamental GATT principles, such as non-discrimination, national treatment, most-favoured-nation treatment, and transparency. The provisions on investment protection are found in Part III of the Treaty. In particular, Article 13 in Part III deals with expropriation, while Article 10 deals with various standards of treatment of foreign investments. The rules for facilitating transit of energy through the participating States are laid down in Article 7. The transit regime is based on freedom of transit and the principle of non-discrimination. Meanwhile, Article 19 of the ECT sets forth a number of ‘best efforts’ obligations of the Contracting Parties with respect to environmental protection and energy efficiency. Lastly, the ECT includes two binding dispute settlement mechanisms: investor-State arbitration for investment disputes (Article 26) and state-to-state arbitration for basically all disputes that may arise under the ECT (Article 27), with the exception for disputes concerning competition (Article 6(7)) and environment (Article 27(2)). The chapter then looks at the Energy Charter Conference, an inter-governmental organization established by the ECT and the governing and decision-making body for the Energy Charter Process.

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