Welcome to the Center for International Law and Governance
The mission of the Center for International Law and Governance is to promote sustainable and pragmatic solutions to managing global challenges. Led by international lawyers, the Center leverages the expertise of Fletcher faculty in a variety of disciplines, and brings a new perspective to the study of global governance.
In an era of globalization, we face more collective challenges than ever before. As national and international bodies try to keep pace with an increasingly interconnected world, the Center for International Law and Governance will provide multi-dimensional policy advice. Fletcher professors from varied disciplines will examine the most pressing issues of international concern, and translate their research into practical advice. Economic relations, security, migration, the environment and technological change are among contemporary challenges that must be dealt with on a global scale. Through the CILG, the Fletcher School will engage with policy-makers in order to better understand and act on these complex phenomena.
The CILG will convene cutting-edge meetings of international policy-makers, practitioners and scholars to assess the dynamics of these challenges, and to develop and recommend practical international law and governance responses. It will focus annually on a specific topic, such as cybersecurity, contagious disease, climate change, the use of force, migration, or global supply chains. In addition to an annual conference and research project, the CILG will provide executive education through “master classes” for practitioners, scholars and students on the existing law and most recent developments in these areas.
The CILG will contribute to the capabilities of Fletcher and other graduate students by engaging them in its research projects and participation in its meetings, fostering expertise among the next generation of leaders in international law and governance.
The CILG will develop a substantial footprint in old media and new. It will publish books and journal articles on its focal topics, providing multi-disciplinary and practical treatments that are orchestrated to develop innovative responses to international problems. It will establish a new media presence, providing policy-makers, journalists, and students with sophisticated international law and governance analyses of current policy issues.
The CILG will be directed by Professors Ian Johnstone and Joel Trachtman, two renowned scholars in international law and governance. It will involve all members of the law faculty at Fletcher, as well as political scientists, economists, environmental policy specialists, regional experts, business scholars, and historians from Fletcher, Tufts, other academic institutions, think tanks, NGOs, and governments.
The first major initiative of the CILG is a conference and edited volume on Designing Law and Organizations to Protect Civilian Institutions and Infrastructure from Cyber Operations.