Shifting Sands
Power, Uncertainty and the Form of International Legal Cooperation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12199181 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Timothy Meyer (0000-0003-3298-537X, Vanderbilt University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 161-185 |
| Publication date | 2016-02-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of International Law (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0938-5428 • E-ISSN: 1464-3596 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ejil/chw005 |
| OpenAlex | W3121322178 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
This article argues that the form of international agreements -binding hard law agreements versus non-binding soft law agreements -can be partially explained by states' interests in promoting renegotiation in the presence of uncertainty and shifting power. I make this argument in three steps. First, I explain that states regularly use unilateral non-compliance as a renegotiation strategy. Second, I argue that making an agreement soft facilitates this use of unilateral non-compliance. Third, I analyse the conditions -uncertainty characterized by common interests (but not uncertainty characterized by distributive concerns) and shifting power -under which facilitating renegotiation through soft law will appeal to states. In particular, I argue that in the presence of these conditions preventing renegotiation creates longterm costs for states that can inhibit short-term cooperation. In effect, under these conditions the shadow of the future can inhibit cooperation rather than support it, as is conventionally thought. These conditions are common to many major contemporary subjects of international cooperation in a way they were not during the latter half of the 20th century, partially explaining the increased importance of soft law to contemporary international governance
Appeal · Argument (complex analysis · Business · Compliance (psychology · Corporate governance · Distributive property · Economics · Hard law · International law · Law and economics · Political science · Power (physics · Shadow (psychology · Soft law · Soft power · Term (time · International Arbitration and Investment Law · International Law and Aviation · International Law and Human Rights · Psychology · Law · Social Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.43 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2019 - 2021 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |