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'.
