NYLS Professor Tai-Heng Cheng Publishes New Book:
When International Law Works: Realistic Idealism After 9/11 and the Global Recession

In When International Law Works, Professor Tai-Heng Cheng transcends current debates about whether international law is really law by focusing on the reasons for
complying with or deviating from international laws and other informal norms, whether or not they are "law." Instead of advocating for or against international law, Professor Cheng acknowledges both its benefits and shortcomings in order to present practical ways to decide whether compliance in a given circumstance is beneficial, moral, or necessary, and to adjust international law to meet the contemporary challenges of global governance. In this manner, Professor Cheng shows how it is possible for decision makers to take international law and its limitations seriously.

Reviews

"This is a well articulated thesis on how the perception of international law as a product of social practice and shared expectations can alleviate what the author calls the 'gridlock' between conservatives and liberals. It is written in a lively way, with full reference to all the strands in the debates about international law generated by the complex and sometimes traumatic events of recent years. A stimulating read."
--Rosalyn Higgins, Former President, International Court of Justice

"A creative and thoughtful analysis of the role of international law in contemporary affairs, which blends meticulous scholarship with keen practical insight."
--Gary Born, Chair, International Arbitration Practice Group, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP

"This important new book by Tai-Heng Cheng aims at international law's place of action. There is no doctrinal point between 'is' and 'ought' and 'applying' and 'making.' Likewise, academics only rarely assert a point between power and values, or realism and idealism. For Cheng, however, it is exactly such points that exist at times of decision. It is there where Cheng focuses relentlessly, offering clarity and, indeed, optimism."
--Professor David D. Caron, UC Berkeley School of Law, and President, American Society of International Law

"This book makes an important contribution to our understanding of the real world effects of international law. The author's analysis is both theoretical and empirical, displaying an extraordinary grasp of international law, its functions and foundations, across a wide range of regimes, from torture to international finance. The breadth of reflection in this work is truly exceptional, and yields insights unavailable where analysis is confined to one particular branch or instrument of international law. Professor Cheng writes with boldness, passion and an impressive command of his subject. He takes a stance on the relationship of morality to effectiveness in legal norms that promises to re-open important issues in legal theory from an internationalist perspective."
--Professor Robert Howse, New York University School of Law

"This is an important book. At a time when contemporary scholarship has either tried, too hard, to be less value-laden while seeking out behavioral explanations, or turned to questions of exit from international rules, Professor Cheng reminds us of the original promise of international law, faces the conceptual difficulties squarely in elegant and lucid prose, argues for compromise, and explores the practical side of compliance by a range of actors beyond the state. The New Haven school has succeeded in reminding us how much it has to say about the major events of our time. This is one of its most powerful voices speaking, and must be heard."
--Professor C.L. Lim, Hong Kong University Faculty of Law

"With this book, Professor Cheng has entered the international legal theory debates at the highest level. He describes the primary contenders with great erudition and offers his own compromise position between them."
--Professor Mary Ellen O'Connell, University of Notre Dame Law School

"Professor Cheng's 'justificatory account of international law' offers a fresh legal framework grounded firmly in policy, morality and practicality and illustrated contextually in case studies. His 'conciliatory alternative to battle' between Goldsmith/Posner and O'Connell makes this book definitely worth a look from its targeted audience of 'actors who affect outcomes in international disputes.'"
--Lucy Reed, Co-Head, Global International Arbitration Group, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

"Professor Cheng has written an eye-opening and challenging work that moves the debate forward over the ages-old debate over international law's status as law or policy. Rather than rehearsing the familiar philosophical and political arguments over the nature of law, Cheng pursues the more on-the-ground question whether government officials implement international norms within their own countries. His explanation for the practice of officials in following international law provides small comfort for either side of the debate, and will demand a re-thinking of the relationship between domestic, foreign, and international law in an increasingly globalized world."
--Professor John Yoo, UC Berkeley School of Law

Press Contacts:

Nancy Guida, VP of Marketing and Communications
212.431.2325
nancy.guida@nyls.edu

LaToya Jordan, Assistant Director of Communications
212.431.2191
latoya.jordan@nyls.edu