The International Law of Economic Warfare

Since the prohibition of the threat or use of force and the resurgence of (economic) nationalism, economic warfare has become an increasingly important substitute for actual hostilities between states. Its manifestations range from medieval sieges to modern day trade wars. Despite its long history, economic warfare remains an elusive term, foreign to international law. This book seeks to identify those portions of international law that are applicable to economic warfare. What is the status quo of regulation? Is there a jus ad bellum oeconomicum? A jus in bello oeconomico?

After putting forward its own definition of economic warfare, the book reviews historical case studies reflecting the three main branches of international economic law: trade, investment and currency to identify pertinent legal boundaries. While the case studies reveal that numerous rules of international (economic) law regulate (specific measures of) economicwarfare, it remains to be seen whether analogously to the prohibition of the threat or use of force these selective limitations have the potential to coalesce into a general prohibition of economic warfare in the future.

Introduces a concept of economic warfare based on a comprehensive review of pertinent literature in the fields of international law and (geo)economics Presents numerous case studies on the different dimensions of economic warfare - trade, investment, and finance - also including the US-Sino Trade War of 2018 Deduces the corpus of regulation confining specific forms of economic warfare from the case studies in various fields of international law ("jus in bello oeconomico") Finds that states have the right to resort to economic warfare ("jus ad bellum oeconomicum") that only prospectively may be challenged

Autorentext

Teoman M. Hagemeyer-Witzleb is a judge serving in the Berlin judiciary. Majoring in international economics, he obtained a (Master's Degree equivalent) diploma in International Economic Law in 2012 from the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg. In 2014 and 2016, he took the bar examinations at the Higher Regional Courts of Nuremberg and Berlin, respectively. His research focusses on public (international) economic law. He has (co-)authored various articles and studies, also for the European Parliament and a major European government.

Inhalt

1 Introduction.- 2 Key Terms, Concepts, and Course of Inquiry.- 3 Trade War.- 4 Investment War.- 5 Currency War.- 6 Sector Non Specific Economic Warfare.- 7 Legality and Law of Economic Warfare.- 8 Final Conclusions.