Aust & Rodiles: Carving Out the City from the State: Charter Cities and the Quest for New Urban Futures

Helmut Aust (Free Univ. of Berlin - Law; Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) & Alejandro Rodiles (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México) have posted Carving Out the City from the State: Charter Cities and the Quest for New Urban Futures (University of Toronto Law Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The idea of building new cities from scratch is gaining new popularity. A particular form of these endeavors relates to the construction of so-called "charter cities" which would be built on the territory of a given state, but would find themselves in more or less complete independence from the legal framework of the host state. Going back to ideas propagated by former World Bank Chief Economist and Nobel laureate Paul Romer, the idea behind charter cities is a decoupling of cities from the state.

Ideally, these cities would be carved out of state jurisdiction almost entirely. This article discusses this phenomenon both in the light of a now apparently failed attempt at implementing this plan in the case of Prospéra in Honduras, but also in the light of its broader historical, conceptual and political implications. As the article demonstrates, charter cities demonstrate a considerable overlap with concepts like special economic zones. Also other attempts at decoupling territories from states like seasteading projects are based on similar ideological underpinnings.These shared conceptual undercurrents relate to techno-libertarian concepts and their growing international influence finds resonance in recent attempts of post-conflict peace-building propagated by the US administration. The article critically assesses these developments and points to the dangers that such new urban futures present.

Oyarzabal: International Law for Diplomats

Mario J.A. Oyarzabal (Legal Adviser, Argentine Foreign Ministry; Member, International Law Commission) has published International Law for Diplomats (Brill | Nijhoff 2026). Here's the abstract:

The purpose of this book is to provide diplomats worldwide - both lawyers and non-lawyers - with basic tools to address the main international legal issues they may encounter both bilaterally and in multilateral negotiations and forums. It features chapter from current or former legal advisers to the ministries of foreign affairs of a representative group of countries alongside the legal advisers of international organizations and institutions with extensive experience in their respective fields. The book offers a practical perspective, without delving into abstract theoretical discussions or issues which, despite being relevant in other contexts, are less so in the diplomatic field.

Criddle & Fox-Decent: Mandatory Cooperation Under International Law

Evan J. Criddle (College of William and Mary - Law) & Evan Fox-Decent (McGill Univ. - Law) have published Mandatory Cooperation Under International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2026). Here's the abstract:

Humanity in the twenty-first century faces serious global challenges and crises, including pandemics, nuclear proliferation, violent extremism, refugee migration, and climate change. None of these calamities can be averted without robust international cooperation. Yet, national leaders often assume that because their states are sovereign under international law, they are free to opt in or out of international cooperation as they see fit. This book challenges conventional wisdom by showing that international law requires states to cooperate with one another to address matters of international concern-even in the absence of treaty-based obligations. Within the past several decades, requirements to cooperate have become firmly embedded in the international legal regimes governing oceans, transboundary rivers, disputed territories, pollution, international security, and human rights, among other topics. Whenever states address matters of common concern, international law requires that they work together as good neighbors for their mutual benefit. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.