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| Book Title | Trade, Aid, and Arbitrate: The Globalization of Western Law |
| Book Author | Wolf, Ronald Charles |
| Bibliographic Information | Ashgate Publishing Company, 2004, Pages : 296, $114.95, ISBN 0754622851 |
| Review Title | |
| Reviewer(s) | Cole, Tony |
Trade,
Aid, and Arbitrate: The Globalization of Western Law. By Ronald Charles Wolf.
Reviewed by
Tony Cole,
Because the
primary thesis of Wolf’s book has already been both claimed and argued numerous
times, in order to avoid merely repeating the work of others Wolf needs to
provide either significant amounts of new information, or else develop a
theoretical underpinning that brings new insight to the subject. Wolf certainly makes an attempt at the first
of these options, but unfortunately does not so much provide new information,
as widely cite to information already provided elsewhere, usually in prominent
sources.
There is little
question that a significant amount of research has gone into the preparation of
this book, and Wolf cannot be criticised for having merely thrown something
together for publication. However, while
the book succeeds in presenting a useful overview of various elements of
contemporary international business law, Wolf never moves beyond the kind of
superficial discussion that is perhaps illustrative of a well-intentioned
researcher stretching into areas with which he is unfamiliar, and to which he
has not devoted the time necessary to really understand. For example, while it is certainly useful for
those not familiar with the international banking system to be given a quick
overview of the ways that domestic banking policies can be affected by
decisions made at the international level (Chapter 13), a discussion, such as
Wolf’s, that relies entirely upon assertions of the potential detrimental
impact of foreign influence on domestic policies, without providing any
empirical evidence that the claimed impact has indeed been detrimental, is of little
real value.
That Wolf’s
research has been broad rather than deep is similarly indicated by the total lack
of empirical evidence used to support the speculative assertion that ICSID
arbitrators will routinely use international law in preference to determining
the applicable law under the choice of law rules of the host state (ICSID
Convention, Article 42(1)) (31). While most commercial arbitration awards
remain confidential, a significant number of ICSID awards are publicly
available. At least some research into
the content of those awards, and the approach actually used, would have given
some support to Wolf’s claim. Instead,
the reader is merely told that “[i]t can be expected” that ICSID arbitrators
will use international law where available, in order to avoid having to
undertake a “crash course” in “the theory of the conflict of laws [which]
requires a substantial training in legal theory” (31). Moreover, while this assertion might have at
least some viability within commercial arbitration, where the amounts at stake
will in some cases not justify hiring those arbitrators at the top of the pay
scale, it is entirely implausible with respect to ICSID arbitration, which
consistently involves internationally-renowned attorneys as arbitrators –
individuals hardly likely to be deterred by the “substantial training in legal
theory” necessary to undertake a conflict of law examination.
While difficulties
such as these undermine the initial optimism a reader might feel at the
apparent strength of the empirical side of Trade,
Aid and Arbitrate, the theoretical side fares no better. Wolf does occasionally gesture towards a
genuinely theoretical underpinning to his argument, such as in his suggestions that
law loses its legitimacy once it is detached from the society within which it
was developed (viii; 30). These comments provide a clear link to the
sociological strain of legal theory developed at different times by individuals
such as Ehrlich, Luhmann and Teubner.
This is a theory that does indeed have the potential to offer
significant support to the argument Wolf is attempting to make. After all, if it is true that law gains its
legitimacy from its connection to an underlying social structure, then there is
clearly a problem with a contemporary international legal system that (Wolf
argues) results in foreign laws and legal interpretations being forced upon
countries that had no role in their development, and that are perhaps even inconsistent
with the legal approaches to the problems in question that those countries
would have developed themselves.
Trade, Aid and Arbitrate is clearly a
well-intentioned book, into which a large amount of personal work has been
put. It is, moreover, by no means
incompetent or a waste of time. It is,
however, properly described as “unnecessary”.
It adds nothing to what is already known on the subject, and also fails
to present a new and insightful way to consider the material it discusses. In conclusion, however, it is worth noting
that one chapter does rise significantly above this level, and does provide
interesting and insightful commentary (175-182). Notably, this section is one of practical
guidance for entrepreneurs considering international investment, evidently enabling
Wolf to build upon the expertise he has developed over the course of his
career. This one short chapter indicates
that had Wolf restricted his discussion to those areas with which he had a true
familiarity, rather than attempting to cover the whole of international
economic law (and legal theory) within a single book, he may indeed have
produced something genuinely notable, that would have been a worthwhile
contribution to the discussion of international economic law.
