Conference on the Economic Foundations of International Law

In their recent book of the same title, Eric Posner and Alan Sykes assess urgent international legal problems, including global warming and international crime, from a rational choice perspective. Their methodology assumes that states are rational, self-interested, and forward-looking and that they use international law to address the actions of other states that may have consequences for their own citizens. In the course of developing this methodology, the authors offer an answer to the long-standing question that has been the subject of much debate: What is international law and how can it be enforced?

The authors address a wide range of topics, such as war crimes, human rights, principles of state responsibility, the law of the sea, international trade regulation, and international investment law. We hope that the breadth of these issues will provide fertile ground for articles building on and responding to the economic methodology developed in the book. Professors Posner and Sykes will be in attendance.

This conference is organized by the Chicago Journal of International Law and Omri Ben-Shahar and sponsored by the journal and by the Coase-Sandor Institute for Law and Economics.

This event is free and open to the public, but seating may be limited.