Dramatic shifts in the global economy, the environment, technological innovation, geopolitical power structures, and human mobility are forcing societies around the world to redefine their normative foundations. These shifts are creating new frontiers in the physical and conceptual structure of our international order.
Growing migration, climate, and public health challenges disrupt the salience of geographic borders. Non-state actors such as regional organizations and ISIS demand a more nuanced taxonomy of the subjects of international law. Technological advances such as cyber warfare, digital surveillance, and automated weapons are changing the terms and consequences of international conflict. Calls for transparency in international dispute resolution, and the increasing role of public issues such as financial regulation and energy policy in private disputes, are redefining the nature of commercial adjudication.
The dynamic frontiers of our international order require that scholars and lawyers chart new frontiers in the theory and practice of international law. At its 110th Annual Meeting in Spring 2016, the American Society of International Law (ASIL) invites policymakers, practitioners, academics, and students of international law to reflect upon these shifting frontiers in the world and in law, to devise new modes of thinking, and to address the questions they present.
