The Future of Foreign Policy, Globalization, and World Trade

In this first post I introduce myself to Medium readers. I am Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine, and President-Elect of the American Society of International Law. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and educated on the East and West Coasts, with educational stints in Mexico and Spain, I write on international law, law and globalization, and foreign policy. Before becoming a professor, I practiced law in Paris, France for over seven years at Coudert Frères and Bredin Prat.

My specialty is international trade law and I have a forthcoming book with Cambridge University Press entitled Emerging Powers and the World Trading System: The Past and Future of International Economic Law. This book builds from an immense amount of field work on trade law and policy in the US, Europe, China, Brazil, and India.

The book complements my previous works that address different aspects of law and globalization, ranging from the governance of genetically modified foods, constitution-making, transnational crime, transatlantic relations, to developing countries in the global trading system.

My recent commentaries include:

* The Right Incentives for Global Vaccine Access (with Michele Goodwin) in Project Syndicate. It was picked up by the Los Angeles Times, CGTN (China), and other papers outside the United States.

* The Biden Administration and the International Legal Order (with David Sloss) in AJIL Unbound, on which I serve on the editorial board. It introduces a special issue that explains and advocates what the Biden administration’s positions should be on trade, migration, global health, climate change, human rights, anti-racism, and election interference.

My next piece for Medium will be published shortly, entitled The Risks of an ‘Alliance of Democracies’. It puts the meeting of President Biden with other G7 leaders in Cornwall, England in much needed perspective.

Gregory Shaffer is Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Irvine and author of Emerging Powers in the World Trading System: The Past and Future of International Economic Law, published by Cambridge University Press on July 27, 2021.