The Trump Administration and International Law

Abstract

Will Donald trump international law? Since Trump's Administration took office, this question has haunted almost every issue area of international law. In his 2017 Foulston Siefkin Lecture, Professor Harold Hongfu Koh, former Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State, argues that Trump does not own these areas, which are influenced by a pervasive transnational legal process in which many other actors participate. The Lecture shows how those opposing Trump's policies in his administration'sf irst year have successfully triggered transnational legal process as part of a collective counter-strategy akin to Muhammad Ali's famous "rope-a-dope." The Lecture's tour d'horizon illustrates the many techniques that the other participants in this process have used to blunt Trump's early initiatives across a broad array of issue areas. While this counter-strategy has been wearing, the Lecture concludes that the high stakes make continuing the struggle both worthwhile and necessary.