The New Empirical Turn in International Law Scholarship

Abstract

International law is increasingly broad in scope and dynamically changing. If we do not understand empirically how international law operates, the limits it confronts, and efforts to make it more effective, international law scholarship will be irrelevant. This short essay for the 2014 ASIL Proceedings introduces the panel papers at the 2014 ASIL Annual Meeting on “New Voices: Empirical Perspectives on International Law.” The papers addressed the interaction between international law and domestic legal orders (Pierre-Hugues Verdier and Mila Versteeg), state foreign policy and international investment law (Adam Chilton), sub-national training organizations and the law of war (Andrew Bell), and non-governmental organizations and international health law (Anna Schrimpf). The introduction briefly summarizes the importance of this work.

Keywords: empirical studies, international law