The recent past has witnessed a growth in national security concerns. The debates about how to address national security have become both deeper and broader as risks having seemingly little to do with military capabilities are labeled “security” threats. From terrorist networks and organized crime to pandemics and climate change, the term “security” has been extended beyond clearly definable bounds. Human security and global security are by now commonly used and interlink with the multiple others. The reemergence of war on European soil and the growing tension in the Asian Pacific, however, offers good cause to look more carefully at what states need to ensure their existence as sovereign entities – that is, at core national security. It has also demonstrated the critical link between core national security and economic power. This one-day conference takes up an inquiry into the changing views on the concept of national security as revealed in the international economic law system. Over the course of four sessions, it will investigate what governments characterize as “national security” issues, what economic measures they are taking to reduce national security threats, and how international trade and investment decisionmakers see such measures. Drawing on experts from Europe (including Switzerland) and the United States, the discussion will also address the fundamental balance-of-power question of who should decide what is an issue of national security. Finally, the speakers will consider how an expanding view of national security will impact states that are committed to maintaining neutrality.
9.30 – 10.15: Introductory Session: An Overview of the changing nature of the concept of national security in international economic law
Krista Nadakavukaren, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law
Cathy Hwang, University of Virginia, School of Law
10.15-10.45 : Coffee break
10.45 -12.30: Session 2: National Security in Trade: Where we’ve been, where we stand, and where we might be going
Didier Chambovey, former Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs, former Chair of the WTO’s General Council
Gabrielle Marceau, University of Geneva/WTO
Valérie Engammare, Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs
Alexander Pehl, Held Jaguttis
Jens Velten, German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action
12.30-13.30 : Lunch
13.45-15.45: Session 3: National Security in Investment Law: Where we’ve been, where we stand, and where we
might be going
Dafina Atanasova, UN Committee on Trade and Development
Sebastián Mantilla Blanco, The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University.
Sophie Gremaud, Clyde & Co.
Riccardo Loschi, Lalive
Felix Imhof, Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs
Björn Arp, Washington College of Law, American University
15.45-16.15 : Coffee break
16.15-18.00: Session 4: Changing Concepts of National Security and the View from Switzerland
Benton Heath, Temple University/online
Kristin Eichensehr, University of Virginia/online
Carolyn Moser, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg/online
Thomas Cottier, em. University of Bern
Andreas Müller, University of Basel
Björn Arp,
Sophie Gremaud,
Cathy Hwang,
Sebastián Mantilla Blanco,
Alexander Pehl,
Jens Velten,
Dafina Atanasova,
Didier Chambovey,
Thomas Cottier,
Valérie Engammare,
Felix Imhof,
Gabrielle Marceau,
Riccardo Loschi,
Krista Nadakavukaren,
Kristin Eichensehr,
Benton Heath,
Andreas Müller