The interplay between extraterritoriality, sovereignty, and the foundations of international law

Abstract

The chapter explores the interplay between international law, territorial sovereignty, and extraterritorial regulation. It: (1) describes how particular legal theories of global governance that downplay the importance of territorial sovereignty and sovereign equality in international law have bolstered an expansive view of national power; and (2) traces the growth, until recently, of extraterritorial regulation in the United States. It suggests that the use domestic law applied to foreign conduct is a form of American exceptionalism that usually is a way to avoid international law's constraints. It concludes that working within the existing international law system to promote cosmopolitan goals may be the better path to advancing transnational justice.