Long read. Reconstituting the unequal global system after pandemic – a cautionary tale of international law

In this time of immense socio-economic upheaval, nationally and globally, much is made of how international law operates in dramatic circumstances. Margot E. Salomon (LSE) invites us to consider how practices that appear to suspend business as usual are better understood as a continuation of international law in sustaining our unequal world. Pointing to the regimes of international investment, sovereign debt, human rights and international cooperation, as well as international law’s partiality for fast violence, she argues that reconstituting the unequal global system after the pandemic requires that we first address disciplinary barriers to that essential project.