Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Upcoming Conference at Penn State: "New International Trade and Rules Between Globalization and Anti-Globalization"


I am happy to announce an upcoming conference at Penn State: New International Trade and Rules Between Globalization and Anti-Globalization. Speakers at the conference will consider the following themes:
1. The United States and China appear to be pursuing distinct strategies toward the organization of international trade and investment. National and international organizations continue to work through the WTO, but regional and other multilateral frameworks appear to supplement or supplant the germinal structures of globalization. This panel considers the form and consequences of these quite significant movements to develop or move from the normative framework of trade of the last half century and to point to the new directions that the organization of trade and finance may be taking.

2. Among the most remarkable developments of the last century has been the rise of the societal sphere and of non-state governance systems. These systems have acquired official recognition through international instruments, the most important of which might be the 2011 U.N. Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights. This panel explores the scope and development of these non state governance systems, their interactions with legal frameworks at the national and international level, and the nature of its own autonomous operation.

3. One of the important consequences of globalization in economic activity has been the change in the relationship between the state and production. More importantly, there has appeared to emerge new forms of organization of regulatory power within the processes of production itself. This panel will explore the scope and nature of these autonomous regulatory communities, their interactions with traditional centers of power, and their future importance.

4. The explosion of Chinese exports has become one of the most significant events in international trade and investment. China has also been pursuing stronger influence in the global market by proactively engaging in the negotiation of international trade and investment partnerships and agreements. These extend well beyond its One Belt One Road policy and embrace trade, development, infrastructure projects and capacity building with its partners.

The Conference will be held in English and Chinese. The Conference Concept Note and Program follows: 




The Conference Concept Note:

Globalization has proven to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, globalization strengthens commercial and financial interdependence and cooperation among different countries through robust markets and production undertaken through global supply chains. On the other hand, globalization has sometimes increased the gap between both rich and the poor individuals within states, and between developed and developing states. This growing gap follows from the uneven penetration of globalization within states and between them. Both individuals and states participate unequally in the processes and rewards of globalization as an economic, societal, cultural and political phenomenon. It should not surprise, then, that the acceleration and deepening of globalization has also accelerated and deepened resistance among individuals within even the most globalized states, and by states that feel increasingly left behind. In recent years, the rise of anti-globalization movements has had significant effects even within highly developed countries. These contestations of international exchanges, even in certain areas, such as science and the arts, that have a relatively well established foundation, has produced efforts to protect national cultures and values. But the contestations are even sharper in the context of globalizing economic orders and legal norms.

Nevertheless, globalization appears to continue to drive policy and to serve as the crux of contemporary societal development. Over the last decade there has been an intensification of efforts to construct conceptually coherent systems that are meant to facilitate interactions among states relating to the free movement of goods, enterprises, capital, and, to some extent, people across borders. Among these the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the negotiation of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and Trade in Service Agreement (TISA), driven by Western states, have offered the possibility of a substantially more integrated system of interactions. An emerging alternative has been developed by the People’s Republic of China. Its One Belt One Road (OBOR) Framework promises a different approach and perhaps one that serves developing states better. Both emerging multilateral systems have been challenged by rising popular nationalist sentiments and the possibility of protectionism and the re-emergence of national barriers. Moreover, the recent election in the United States has brought to power an administration that might consider a system of bilateral arrangements a better alternative to the systems represented by TTP-TTIP-TISA, or its OBOR alternatives.

This conference seeks to promote conversation around these themes, including but not limited to the following questions. What are the significant powers promoting or holding back international trade and investment? Will globalization eventually be embraced by the majority? Is it possible to underpin a set of constant norms and rules of international trade and investment? What direction will new international trade and investment Rules lead? To what extent have the endorsement TPP and the negotiation of TTIP and TISA reshaped the international order and impacted people’s lives? To what extent is the OBOR Framework an alternative to or supplement of TTP-TTIP? What is the relationship between bilateralism in trade and multilateral efforts such as TTP or OBOR? What are the effects of resistance to globalization and what are its consequences for the development of global trade? How has the internationalization of civil society and economic enterprises, as the twin pillars of the private sphere, affected the development and structures of globalization?


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Agenda


Day 1: April 22, 2017


Opening Remarks (9:00-9:20am)

Dean James W. Houck

Dean Designate Hari M. Osofsky


Keynote Speech (9:20-9:40am)

            Kenneth McPhail (Professor & Associate Dean, Faculty of Humanities, Manchester      University): Accounting for Human Rights in International Trade


Panel 1 (9:40-11:40am)
The Convergence and Diversification of the International Trade and Investment Regimes

Panelists:

Yanmei Lin (Associate Professor, Vermont Law School) & Sheng Sun (Vermont Law School): Nation State in International Environmental Governance: a Chinese Perspective in the Context of Regulating International Trade of Illegal Timber Products

Oluwaseun Ajayi (Attorney, U.S. Department of Education): The Panama Convention on Recognition of Arbitral Awards

(Skype) Nishi Malhotra (Assistant Professor) & Priya Malhotra (Assistant Professor, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University): Impact of Antidumping Duties on International Trade

Armstrong Chen (Partner, King & Wood Mallesons): On Interim Measure of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Arbitration Rules (English Version) and An Analysis of the Development of Cross-border Dispute Resolution in China's Bankruptcy Laws and Regulations

Feng Li (Lecturer, China Foreign Affairs University): Research on FDI Regulation Framework at the Background of “OBOR” Implementation

Moderator: Flora Sapio


Lunch (11:40am-1:20pm)



Panel 2 (1:20-3:20pm)
The Constitutionalization of International Trade and Investment Rules Beyond the State or Among States

Panelists:

Wei Shen (Professor & Dean, Shandong University Law School): After TPP: China’s BIT’s and FDI Law

Flora Sapio (Professor, Australian National University; Board Member, FLIA): Private Management and Risk Mitigation Methodologies as the “Unwritten Constitution” in an Era of Anti-Globalization.

Paolo Farah (Professor, West Virginia University): Civil Society and National, Bilateral & Multilateral Instruments towards “Non-Trade Concerns” to Stem the Excesses of Globalization

Bin Li (Professor, Beijing Normal University): Linking Human Rights Norms to International Investment Rules: A Methodological Reflection

Xiaofu Li (Postdoctoral Researcher, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics): Legal Service of Chinese Market in New Era.

Moderator: Larry Catá Backer


Coffee Break (3:20-3:35pm)


Panel 3 (3:35-5:35pm)
The Rise of New Societal Orders and Global Supply Chains, Labor and Investment Markets

Panelists:

Larry Catá Backer (Professor, Penn State University): The Privatization of Governance

Nichlas Rowland (Professor, Penn State University) & Matthew Jon Spaniol (Professor, Roskilde University): Futures for China: Results from Pre-conference Scenario Planning Workshop

Shan Gao (SJD Candidate, Penn State Law School): The FDI Policy and Socialist Modernization

Sean Jorgensen (Attorney & Secretary of FLIA): Global Income Inequality and the Failures of Nationalism: A Case for the Globalization of Labor

Keren Wang (Ph.D. candidate, the Department of Communication Arts and Science of Penn State University): A Ritualist Perspective on the State of Chinese Legal System

Moderator: Kenneth McPhail

Day 2    April 23, 2017

Opening Remarks (9:00-9:10am)

            Wei Shen (Professor & Dean, Shandong University Law School)


Panel 4 (9:10-10:30am)
States and Stakeholders in the Construction of an International Economic Legal Order 

Sukru Say (SJD Candidate, Penn State Law School):  Civil Society Organizations’ roles in Promoting the Transparency of International Trade Negotiation

Jianzhi Zeng (Fulbright Visiting Researcher, Cornell University School of Law): Globalization or Anti-globalization: The Right to Regulate in International Investment Law

Aisi Zhang (SJD Candidate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign): New Challenge: The Role of NGOs at the WTO

Moderator: Panagiotis Tridimas (Professor, Penn State University)


Coffee Break (10:30-10:40am)


Special Session (10:40am-12:20pm)
The New International Trade and Investment Rules: Chinese Perspectives

Panelists:

Paolo Farah: (Professor, West Virginia University): China's “One-Belt One-Road” and Geopolitics in Eurasia: Cooperation in Energy and Infrastructures

Yi Liang (Ph.D. Candidate, University of International Business and Economics): The Enforceability of WTO-plus and WTO-extra Provisions in the New Generation of Chinese FTAs

Yewei Shi (Ph.D. Candidate, Peking University): A Research on Technology Transfer in China’s Outward FDI under Globalization

Mengshuang Sun (Master Candidate, China University of Political Science and Law): Rethinking the International Economic Order and China’s Role

Moderator: Wei Shen/Keren Wang


Closing Remarks (12:20-12:30pm)

            Professor Larry Catá Backer

About the Hosts

The Penn State Research and Career Development Network for Law and International Affairs

The Penn State Research and Career Development Network for Law and International Affairs is a recognized student group dedicated to promoting academic and public discourse at the intersection of law and international affairs, providing opportunities to discuss and share information related to law and international affairs, and facilitating activities between students, alumni, scholars and practitioners.


CPE serves as an institutional environment for an ideology free, non-partisan and independent investigation, analysis, scrutiny, research, inquiry, examination, and practice of peace and ethics. To that end, CPE encourages and supports boundary-pushing, multi- and interdisciplinary research that advances an understanding of issues relating to peace and ethics studies, including issues of constitutional governance, globalization, public and private economic activities and their social, cultural, economic, religious and political impacts. It serves as a forum for the discussion of issues of peace and ethics as they affect individuals, governments, religion, business, and other organizations. It also serves as a clearinghouse for the advancement and dissemination of information relating to peace and ethics study. It promotes activities that seek to further the peace and ethics principles that serve as the foundation of the organization. CPE engages in three categories of activities: (1) producing knowledge through peace & ethics research projects; (2) communicating knowledge through peace & ethics education projects; (3) implementing knowledge through the council for peace & ethics groups.


The Business and Human Rights Catalyst is an initiative funded by Alliance Manchester Business School at Manchester University. It is among very few programmes worldwide on business and human rights hosted by a business school. Its main scope is to serve as a safe space for interdisciplinary discussions about the role of the private sector for fundamental rights, both for academic and non-academic actors. The initiative is led by Professor Ken McPhail, Associate Dean for Social Responsibility, Faculty of Humanities. The missions of Business and Human Rights Catalyst include: (1) define the challenges of the business responsibility to respect human rights, (2) engage key actors in informed and action-oriented discussion, (3) inform the academic, social and political debate, (4)shape future policy and corporate practice, and (5) impact the realization of rights.


The Center for Global Studies was founded in August 2010 after Penn State was awarded one of eleven highly competitive Title VI National Resource Center grants by the U.S. Department of Education. In 2014, the CGS was awarded two new federal grants -- Title VI National Resource Center and Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships -- totaling just over $2 million over four years from the U.S. Department of Education. The NRC award is one of only seven awards supporting centers with a focus on international studies while the FLAS award directly supports undergraduate and graduate students in achieving competency in select foreign languages and conducting research in related international and area studies. The Center for Global Studies is a cross-disciplinary center for the creative and innovative study of the many complex facets of globalization that offers the university an impact-oriented vision for facilitating and coordinating faculty and student research, promoting globally-relevant graduate and undergraduate education, and introducing new outreach programs.


The Foundation for Law and International Affairs (FLIA) is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. FLIA promotes comparative scholarship and public discourse and embraces respectful debate in the areas of law and international affairs. It hopes to bring together ideas and opinions all over the world to form a platform and database in order to promote academic scholarship. FLIA also helps the public, especially young people, to become rounded and productive citizens by fostering attitudes of respect that will lead to a global mindset and comparative perspectives. The areas on which FLIA focuses include comparative law and culture, international crime and judicial assistance, courts and tribunals, social responsibility and sustainable development, global economics and world trade, international relations and multilateral diplomacy, global security and governance, and human rights.

Penn State School of International Affairs

The Penn State School of International Affairs is a fully accredited member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs and an interdisciplinary program drawing extensively upon the intellectual resources of faculty across several academic units of the University. Offering a professional master's degree in international affairs with several specialty areas of study, its mission is to prepare exceptional students for careers and leadership positions in both the private and public sectors of an increasingly interdependent world.

Penn State Law

Penn State Law, located on Penn State’s 13-square-mile University Park campus, is one of two separately accredited law schools at Penn State and offers J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degree programs. The law school’s faculty consists of renowned scholars and practitioners who are accessible and innovative teachers and share a passion for law and pride in the legal profession. Penn State Law offers a close and supportive law school community, state-of-the-art classroom and communication technology, one of the world’s finest research libraries, national and international career opportunities, and all of the resources
of one of the world’s leading public research institutions.

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