The changing logic of International Economic Law

Abstract

Economic policies are increasingly guided by a whole set of different concerns from those that inspired International Economic Law (IEL), the subfield of Public International Law comprising rules disciplining global trade, investment and finance relations. Instead of interdependence, trade liberalization, and market-orientation, rules and government decisions are increasingly directed to pursue goals such as reduction of dependence, resilience, autonomy, and even self-reliance. A state-driven geoeconomic logic is gradually replacing the liberal rationale that underpinned IEL for the past decades, whereby global economic relations were led by market actors, not by governments. Understanding where IEL might be headed requires an appraisal of this changing logic. This Article makes the following contributions to this effort. First, it proposes a conceptual framework centered around the notion of “geoeconomics,” which provides a coherent meaning to many developments that are transforming economic relations. The framework is unique in that it clearly outlines what is considered under the concept of geoeconomics, particularly by distinguishing it from other potentially misleading notions. This Article describes the assumptions that back the geoeconomic framework and show how they play out in practice. Thus, it sheds light on the factors driving many recent developments in the global economy which are difficult to explain from a liberal logic. Second, it contributes to sophisticate the terms of the debates among international economic lawyers that seek to address the transformations impacting IEL. These debates have neglected elements that are brought to light by the geoeconomic framework. This Article presents the insights arising from the geoeconomic framework and how they offer directions for future debates on the evolution of IEL.

Keywords: International Economic Law, WTO, Trade, Geoeconomics