Whither the West? International Law in Europe and the United States

 Whither the West?International Law in Europe and the United States

Chiara Giorgetti, University of Richmond 
Guglielmo Verdirame, King's College London 

On a variety of international legal matters, relations between the US and European countries are evolving and even diverging. In an ever-changing world, understanding the reasons for this increasing dichotomy is fundamental and has a profound impact on our understanding of world dynamics and globalization and, ultimately, on our awareness of where the West is going. This interdisciplinary volume proposes new frameworks to understand the differences in approach to international law in the US and Europe. To explain the theoretical and historical underpinnings of the diverging views, the expert essays present new research and develop innovative conclusions. They assess and explore issues such as the idea of sovereignty, constitutional law, the use of force, treaty law and international adjudication. Leading authorities in different disciplines including law and political science, the contributors engage in a new dialogue and develop a new discourse on inter-Atlantic views.

Introduction: W[h]ither the west? The divided west and the shifting grounds of international law; Part I. The Idea of International Law in the Divided West: 1. International lawyers and legal forms transatlantic denials; 2. Are we (Americans) all international legal realists now?; 3. Are liberal internationalists still liberal?; 4. The new, new sovereigntism or how the European union became disenchanted with international law and defiantly protective of its domestic legal order; Part II. Specific Areas in International Law: Whither the West?: 5. Authority and dialogue state and official immunity in domestic and international courts; 6. Treaty conditions and constitutions walls, windows, or doors; 7. International courts and tribunals in the USA and in Europe the increasingly divided west; 8. Unravelling a paradox of shared responsibility the disconnection between substantive and adjudicate law; 9. Divergent views on the content and relevance of the jus ad Bellum in Europe and the United States? The case of the US-Led military coalition against ‘Islamic state'.