International Trade Law: A Comprehensive E-Textbook, Volume 1 Interdisciplinary Foundations (6th edition)

Bhala, Raj

Publication

International Trade Law: A Comprehensive E-Textbook, Volume 1 Interdisciplinary Foundations (6th edition)

Bhala, Raj

Abstract

Volume One, Interdisciplinary Foundations, carefully explains the rich, diverse intellectual heritage of international trade. Part One sets the tone for this and the remaining Volumes, laying out 10 themes – including the importance of having fun through the study of the field. Part Two shows how and why cross-border importation and exportation, and foreign direct and portfolio investments, are more than merely economic phenomena. Morality is very much at stake. Dating to Ancient Greece and Rome, and through the great thinkers of the early and medieval Christian Church, trade transactions, and the behavior of traders, were the subject of philosophical and religious debate. Only in 18th and 19th centuries did the writings of classical economists – Adam Smith and David Ricardo – pivot attention to economic analyses of mercantilism and free trade. Parts Three and Four thus cover the economics of trade. Here, too, diversity is evident: both capitalist and communist trade theory is discussed in detail. Some of these economic topics link to the politics of trade, including trade deficits, the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem, and industrial policy. In Part Five, the sweep of trade history is chronicled. American trade history – not just tariff policy before, during, and after the Civil War, but also the reality of the Constitutional protection for slave trade – is examined. So, too, is the history of the modern multilateral trading system, which arises from the Great Depression and Atlantic Charter, and takes root with the GATT in 1947, and ultimately the WTO in 1995. All of the multilateral trade negotiation (MTN) rounds, including the failed Doha Round, are analyzed. Finally, Part Six reviews another interdisciplinary foundation of trade, namely, international relations (IR) theory. Here, Realism, Liberalism, and Constructivism are explained. These theories are a reminder of the promise, and limitation, of trade as means to build peace among peoples. Overall, Volume One welcomes readers, regardless of their prior background, by giving them the interdisciplinary tools they need to be well-educated and well-rounded in International Trade Law. Like the other seven Volumes of International Trade Law: A Comprehensive E-Textbook, this Volume is available Open Access, and thus freely, quickly downloadable.

Description

This book is Volume One of an Eight-Volume set. All of the Volumes are available in KU ScholarWorks. Links to all eight volumes are available in the Abstracts file in this record. About the Author: Born in Toronto of Indian and Celtic heritage, Rakesh (Raj) Kumar Bhala is a dual Canadian-U.S. citizen prominent in the fields of International Trade Law, Islamic Law (Sharī‘a), and Law and Literature. Raj is the inaugural Leo. S. Brenneisen Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas School of Law (KU Law). He is published widely world-wide – authoring 100 scholarly articles and 13 books, including the International Trade Law Textbook, which has been used at over 100 law schools around the globe. Ingram’s Business Magazine designated him as one of “50 Kansans You Should Know.” Raj has testified before the U.K. Parliament, House of Commons, International Trade Committee, on trade and human rights. Media frequently call upon Raj. Across 65 consecutive months (from January 2017-October 2022), “On Point” was his column on International Law and Economics, which Bloomberg Quint / BQ Prime (Mumbai) published and distributed to approximately 6.2 million readers globally. Raj is a Harvard Law School (HLS) graduate (Cum Laude). As a Marshall Scholar, Raj earned two Master’s degrees, from the London School of Economics (LSE) in Economics, and from Oxford (Trinity College) in Management (Industrial Relations). His undergraduate degree is from Duke (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa), where he was an Angier B. Duke Scholar and double-majored in Economics and Sociology. After HLS, Raj practiced at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he twice won the President’s Award for Excellence thanks to his service as a delegate to the United Nations Conference on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), along with a Letter of Commendation from the U.S. Department of State. He is a member of the State Department’s Speaker Program. Raj has served in officer positions at the International Bar Association (IBA) and Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA), on the Executive Board of Directors of the Carriage Club of Kansas City (including as Treasurer), and been on the Alumni Association Board of the University School of Milwaukee (USM), his high school alma mater. He is grateful to his USM teachers for a liberal arts education that made all good things possible. Raj loves fitness training, has finished 115 marathons, including the “Big Five” of the “World’s Majors” (Boston twice, New York twice, Chicago twice, Berlin, and London). He enjoys studying Shakespeare and (especially since becoming Catholic at Easter Vigil 2001) Theology – and watching baseball.