Thread by @scottjshapiro

Speaking of cancellation, the first article that I wrote with @oonahathaway was on "cancellation" in international law, what we call "outcasting." We argued there that in contrast to domestic law, where centralized institutions do things to scofflaws, /1
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

in international law states enforce the rules by refusing to do things with scofflaws. State outcast scofflaw states by depriving them of the benefits of cooperation. There are many forms of outcasting: if you look for them in international law, they are everywhere /2

In our book, "The Internationalists," Oona and I argued that outcasting is norm in the modern world because war has been outlawed. In the pre-1928 world, war was the way in which legal rights were enforced. Economic sanctions were illegal. This flips after 1928. /3

War may be waged only in self-defense, with consent or Security Council authorization. Outcasting is now the only option. But since there are many forms of outcasting, there are many tools for enforcing legal rights without resorting to military force. /fin