A ‘New’ Law of Cooperation: Collective Action across Regimes for the Promotion of Public Goods and Values versus Fragmentation

Abstract

Many efforts of international cooperation serve to organize global public goods, to set up regimes for global commons, and to promote fundamental values. Friedmann welcomed these developments as a law of cooperation, where states go beyond merely coordinating sovereign interests but indeed reach out for collective action. Friedmann’s diagnosis correctly described the essence of today’s international law and its developments. Diverse international regimes exist, particularly in areas such as human rights, environmental protection, and economic relations. However, public goods and fundamental values can hardly be achieved by those regimes in separation. A proper interaction across the various agreements and regimes is vital. States should join to achieve common ends. A ‘new’ law of cooperation is needed, aimed at promoting public goods and values across the diverse regimes and concerned about the integrity of the international legal order also addressing dimensions of efficiency and legitimacy.