Steve Charnovitz

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Steve Charnovitz
Charnovitz in 2019.jpg
Charnovitz in 2019
Born
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Yale Law School
Yale College
Harvard Kennedy School
Scientific career
Fields International Law
International Trade
Institutions George Washington University
George Washington University Law School

Steve Charnovitz (born 1953) is a scholar of public international law, living in the United States. He teaches at the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., and is best known for his writings on the linkages between trade and environment and trade and labor rights. [1] [2] He is also known for his scholarship on the historical role of nongovernmental organizations in international governance. [3]

Contents

Background

Charnovitz is a native of Savannah, Georgia. [4]

He was an early advocate for improving bicycle transportation in the United States where he worked in the Office of Environmental Affairs of the U.S. Department of Transportation. [5] He was an analyst in the U.S. Department of Labor from 1975 to 1986 on international labor issues. [6] One accomplishment during that period was the negotiation of labor reforms in Haiti and El Salvador as part of the U.S. Caribbean Basin Initiative. [7] [8] During 1984–1985, he was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the offices of Senator Carl Levin and House Majority Leader Jim Wright. From 1987 to 1989, he was a legislative assistant to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Jim Wright, [9] [10] and served once again in 1989–1991 for Speaker Tom Foley. In 1991, Charnovitz became Policy Director of the newly established Competitiveness Policy Council. [11] In 1994, he co-founded and directed the Global Environment and Trade Study (GETS) located at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy. [12] After several years in private practice at the law firm now known as Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, [13] Charnovitz joined the faculty of the George Washington University Law School in 2004. [14]

Charnovitz serves or has served on several editorial boards in scholarly journals including the American Journal of International Law, the Journal of Environment & Development, the Journal of International Economic Law, and the World Trade Review. [15] He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. [16] From the late 1970s onward, he has been a forceful advocate of free trade combined with pro-competitiveness policies by governments to assist workers who are hurt by economic change and globalization. [17] [18] Charnovitz has also been a longtime proponent of effective intergovernmental policies to prevent climate change. [19] He was also an early proponent of giving each student an individual computer in the classroom. [20]

He is a member of the American Law Institute. [21] In 2012, he has served as an advisor to the Harvard Business School's Project on U.S. Competitiveness. [22]

He received a B.A. degree from Yale College in 1975, an M.P.P. degree from Harvard Kennedy School in 1983, and a J.D. degree from Yale Law School in 1998. [23]

Works

Charnovitz is the author of Trade Law and Global Governance, which was launched in June 1992 at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He is also the author of over 215 articles in edited volumes and scholarly journals, and the co-editor of Law in Service of Human Dignity. In 2009, he coauthored Global Warming and the World Trading System, published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics. [24] (The coauthors are Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Jisun Kim.) In the 1990s and 2000s, he has written extensively on the history of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). [25] In 1997, he proposed the thesis that the impact of non-governmental organization on international policymaking was cyclical rather than upwardly sloping. [26] [27] He is the author of The Path of World Trade Law in the 21st Century (World Scientific, 2014). [28]

He is known for his neologisms on international policy issues. For example, he coined the term "ecolonomy" [29] to signify that Earth's ecology and economy were two sides of the same coin. He also coined the term "SCOO" [30] as an acronym for the trade sanction in the World Trade Organization called "suspension of concessions or other obligations".

He writes on numerous issues in international law and US foreign relations such as climate change, decarbonization, and international migration. [31] He has advocated experimentalism in republican government. [32] Since 1983, he has advocated that the United States supplement its participation in the United Nations by intensifying US cooperation with other democracies. [33]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International trade</span> Exchange across international borders

International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Trade Organization</span> Intergovernmental trade organization

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that govern international trade. It officially commenced operations on 1 January 1995, pursuant to the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement, thus replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that had been established in 1948. The WTO is the world's largest international economic organization, with 164 member states representing over 98% of global trade and global GDP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-governmental organization</span> Organization independent of any government, usually created to aid those in need

A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in humanitarianism or the social sciences; they can also include clubs and associations that provide services to their members and others. NGOs can also be lobby groups for corporations, such as the World Economic Forum. NGOs are distinguished from international and intergovernmental organizations (IOs) in that the latter are more directly involved with sovereign states and their governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office of the United States Trade Representative</span> United States trade body

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of the United States federal government responsible for developing and promoting American trade policy. Part of the Executive Office of the President, it is headed by the U.S. Trade Representative, a Cabinet-level position that serves as the U.S. President's primary advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on trade matters. USTR has more than two hundred employees, with offices in Geneva, Switzerland, and Brussels, Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Seattle WTO protests</span> Anti-globalization demonstrations at a United States-hosted World Trade Organization conference

The 1999 Seattle WTO protests, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Seattle, were a series of anti-globalization protests surrounding the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, when members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) convened at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington on November 30, 1999. The Conference was to be the launch of a new millennial round of trade negotiations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trade justice</span>

Trade justice is a campaign by non-governmental organisations, plus efforts by other actors, to change the rules and practices of world trade in order to promote fairness. These organizations include consumer groups, trade unions, faith groups, aid agencies and environmental groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Institute of Foreign Trade</span> Central civil service training institute

The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) is a business school in India. Established in 1963, it works as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It also functions as a civil services training institute. Its main campus is in New Delhi and has additional campuses in Kolkata and Kakinada.

Todd Nathaniel Tucker is an American academic, political scientist, and political commentator who is director of governance studies at the Roosevelt Institute, where he specializes in the study of trade agreements and international law.

The original member states of theWorld Trade Organization are the parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) after ratifying the Uruguay Round Agreements, and the European Communities. They obtained this status at the entry into force on 1 January 1995 or upon their date of ratification. All other members have joined the organization as a result of negotiation, and membership consists of a balance of rights and obligations. The process of becoming a World Trade Organization (WTO) member is unique to each applicant country, and the terms of accession are dependent upon the country's stage of economic development and the current trade regime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of the World Trade Organization</span> Criticism directed at the World Trade Organization

Since its creation in 1995, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has worked to maintain and develop international trade. As one of the largest international economic organizations, it has strong influence and control over trading rules and agreements, and thus has the ability to affect a country's economy immensely. The WTO policies aim to balance tariffs and other forms of economic protection with a trade liberalization policy, and to "ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible". Indeed, the WTO claims that its actions "cut living costs and raise standards, stimulate economic growth and development, help countries develop, [and] give the weak a stronger voice." Statistically speaking, global trade has consistently grown between one and six percent per annum over the past decade, and US$38.8 billion were allocated to Aid for Trade in 2016.

The Global Environment & Trade Study (GETS) was a non-profit research institute established in 1994 to study the complex linkages between international trade and environmental sustainability. GETS supported numerous research projects on the legal, economic, and ecological aspects of trade and environment.

John Sullivan Wilson is a former Lead Economist (retired) of the World Bank. He directed and managed research on transparency, trade facilitation, regulation, and economic development. Mr. Wilson served in the Development Research Group of the World Bank and also in operations in the Infrastructure Vice Presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy</span>

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) is an international non-profit research and advocacy organization that promotes sustainable food, farm, and trade systems. IATP has offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Washington, D.C., Geneva, Switzerland and Berlin, Germany.

Labour standards in the World Trade Organization are binding rules, which form a part of the jurisprudence and principles applied within the rule making institutions of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Labour standards play an implicit, but not an overt role within the WTO, however it forms a prominent issue facing the WTO today, and has generated a wealth of academic debate.

In the context of globalization and the subsequent proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs), legal scholars generally refer to the political strategy used by a sovereign state to leverage a trade agreement's substantive rules to counter behavior it deems unreasonable by its trading partners, as aggressive legalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart S. Malawer</span>

Stuart Malawer is an international trade lawyer, and distinguished service professor of law at George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government. He was a founding faculty member of both the Antonin Scalia Law School and Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.

Economic globalization is one of the three main dimensions of globalization commonly found in academic literature, with the two others being political globalization and cultural globalization, as well as the general term of globalization. Economic globalization refers to the widespread international movement of goods, capital, services, technology and information. It is the increasing economic integration and interdependence of national, regional, and local economies across the world through an intensification of cross-border movement of goods, services, technologies and capital. Economic globalization primarily comprises the globalization of production, finance, markets, technology, organizational regimes, institutions, corporations, and people.

Chantal J.M. Thomas, Cornell Law Professor at Cornell Law School, directs the Clarke Initiative for Law and Development in the Middle East and North Africa. Thomas teaches in the areas of Law and Development, Law and Globalization, and International Economic Law and is active in the areas of human rights and social justice, particularly in the Middle East.

Peter van den Bossche is a professor of international economic law at the University of Bern. In 2018 he was elected president of the Society of International Economic Law (SIEL). He served as a judge on the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 2009-2017, following nomination by the European Union and appointment and re-appointment by the Member states of the World Trade Organization. In December 2013 his appointment was renewed. With the end of his formal appointment at the end of 2017, US-driven delays in appointing his replacement alongside US blocking of other key WTO vacancies has meant a growing crisis for the WTO-based multilateral trading system. The election of van den Bossche as SIEL president is considered by some a sign of both defiance to economic nationalism and support for the rules-based multilateral system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rohinton P. Medhora</span> Canadian economist

Rohinton P. Medhora is a Canadian economist. His fields of expertise are monetary and trade policy, international economic relations, and development economics. He is a Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) distinguished fellow, former president of CIGI and professor of practice at McGill University's Institute for the Study of International Development.

References

  1. "Ideas for the ILO's 'Second Century'", Charnovitz Interview, Washington Branch Office of the International Labor Organization, ILO Focus, Spring 2001, pp. 4–6.
  2. Sakr, Rafael LIma (March 2019). "Beyond History and Boundaries: Rethinking the Past in the Present of International Economic Law". Journal of International Economic Law. 22: 57, 64–90. doi:10.1093/jiel/jgz001. hdl: 10.1093/jiel/jgz001 .
  3. "Steve Charnovitz – Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  4. "Steve Charnovitz". Green Growth Knowledge Platform. December 3, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  5. See U.S. Department of Transportation, Highway and Urban Mass Transportation, September 1974, pp. 24–30 .
  6. "Steve Charnovitz | International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development". www.ictsd.org. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  7. "LC Catalog – Item Information (Full Record)" [The Path of World Trade Law in the 21st Century]. catalog.loc.gov. World Scientific. 2015. pp. xv. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  8. "The Labor Rights Rationale to Approve the USMCA". International Economic Law and Policy Blog. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  9. See Jim Wright, Balance of Power (Atlanta: Turner Publishing, 1996, p. 443).
  10. "INSIDE WASHINGTON – Junk Trade". National Journal. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  11. See Competitiveness Policy Council A Competitiveness Strategy for America. Second Report to the President and Congress, March 1993, p. 63.
  12. "PEOPLE – Washington's Movers and Shakers". National Journal. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  13. Biermann, Frank (March 2, 2017). A World Environment Organization: Solution or Threat for Effective International Environmental Governance?. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-351-96142-4.
  14. "WTO | About the organization". www.wto.org. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  15. "Editorial board". Cambridge Core. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  16. "A Conversation with Senator Jeff Flake". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  17. Charnovitz, Steve (January 1, 1986). "Worker Adjustment: The Missing Ingredient in Trade Policy". California Management Review. 28 (2): 156–173. doi:10.2307/41165194. ISSN   0008-1256. JSTOR   41165194. S2CID   155594521.
  18. "A Discussion about the Debate Over the North American Free Trade Agreement". www.law.gwu.edu. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  19. Charnovitz, Steve (February 5, 2020). "How the Topsy-Turvy Trade World Affects Climate Change Cooperation". Rochester, NY. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3532689. S2CID   213038858. SSRN   3532689.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. "Computerizing the Classroom", Journal of Commerce, August 30, 1994.
  21. Institute, The American Law. "Members". American Law Institute. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  22. "Steve Charnovitz - Faculty - USC - Harvard Business School". www.hbs.edu. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  23. "Steve Charnovitz". Centre for International Governance Innovation. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  24. See http://bookstore.piie.com/book-store/4280.html.
  25. Charnovitz, Steve (2006). "Nongovernmental Organizations and International Law". The American Journal of International Law. 100 (2): 348–372. doi:10.1017/S0002930000016699. ISSN   0002-9300. JSTOR   3651151. S2CID   141370327.
  26. Steve Charnovitz, "Two Centuries of Participation: NGOs and International Governance," Michigan Journal of International Law, Vol. 18, Winter 1997, pp. 183, 268–270.
  27. Charnovitz, Steve (January 1, 1997). "Two Centuries of Participation: NGOs and International Governance". Michigan Journal of International Law. 18 (2): 183–286. ISSN   1052-2867.
  28. Charnovitz, Steve (May 21, 2013). The Path of World Trade Law in the 21st Century. World Scientific Studies in International Economics. Vol. 37. WORLD SCIENTIFIC. doi:10.1142/8834. ISBN   978-981-4513-24-1.
  29. Steve Charnovitz, Living in an Ecolonomy: Environmental Cooperation and the GATT, Pacific Basin Research Center, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 1994. The term "ecolonomics" had been invented one year earlier by Dennis Weaver. The field of ecological economics goes back to the 19th century.
  30. "The Dispute Settlement System in the Next Ten Years", pp. 921, 927, in Merit Janow, Victoria Donaldson & Alan Yanovich (eds.), The WTO: Governance, Dispute Settlement & Developing Countries (Huntington: Juris Publishing, 2008).
  31. "WTO Norms on International Migration". www.wilmerhale.com. May 2002. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  32. "Canadian Parliamentary Review – Article". www.revparl.ca. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  33. Charnovitz, Steve (August 5, 1985). "A Union of Democracies". The Christian Science Monitor.