(Write On! is an occasional item about notable calls for papers.) The International Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools is seeking papers plumbing this question, to be considered by the panel the Section will sponsor on January 9, 2009, at the AALS annual meeting, to be held this year in San Diego, California: "Taking International Law Seriously: Will the United States Abide by International Law That Is a Law of Rules?" Here's the program summary:For the world at large, the rule of law is a law of rules. Most states understand international law in this way. When the United States seemingly departs from those rules, the world criticizes us. Cynics say that we are just another superpower that does not want to be bound by rules. Might the explanation lie elsewhere: not in cynicism, but in different conceptions of law and of its application? When Americans look at international law, they look at it from a common law perspective. When American courts apply international law to facts, they do so as common law courts. Might this explain why Americans sometimes come to different conclusions about what international law requires than do their foreign counterparts?
Presenters of chosen papers will join others invited to speak on the panel. Papers will be published in a special volume of Ius Gentium, a Westlaw/Lexis-searchable publication of the Springer publishing house. Submit either a 3- to 5-page summary or a draft paper no later than August 15, 2008, e-mailed to Section Chair, Professor James R. Maxeiner, 
University of Baltimore School of Law, at jmaxeiner@ubalt.edu.
University of Baltimore School of Law, at jmaxeiner@ubalt.edu.
