Borderlines

Second in a four-part series of special Borderlines episodes with UC Berkeley Law guest hosts Professor Roxanna Altholz and Professor Laurel E. Fletcher shining a spotlight on human rights champions—all guest speakers in their Human Rights Practice Workshop course, where leading practitioners working in a variety of institutional settings speak about their struggles against corruption and impunity...

First in a four-part series of special Borderlines episodes with UC Berkeley Law guest hosts Professor Roxanna Altholz and Professor Laurel E. Fletcher shining a spotlight on human rights champions—all guest speakers in their Human Rights Practice Workshop course, where leading practitioners working in a variety of institutional settings share their struggles against corruption and impunity, the r...

Episode 16 of Borderlines features eminent jurist Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Thomas von Danwitz , Judge and former president of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg. Judge von Danwitz discusses the impact and import of the European Union Court of Justice (CJEU) 70 years after its inception in the aftermath of World War II as “a community of law instead of a primacy of politics.” In conversati...

Episode 15 of Borderlines showcases leading international law and international relations educators discussing their new book, IOM Unbound?: Obligations and Accountability of the International Organization for Migration in an Era of Expansion . Host Katerina Linos interviews the volume’s editors, Megan Bradley (McGill), Cathryn Costello (Hertie School and Oxford), and Angela Sherwood (Queen Mary)...

Diverse international organizations play an increasingly important role on the modern world stage, helping maintain global peace, protecting human rights and displaced persons, and regulating economic cooperation. How have attempts to build more nimble alternatives to slow-moving bureaucratic bodies fared in the 21st century? Join leading thinkers and coauthors Professor Kristina Daugirdas (M...

Episode #13 of Borderlines features distinguished international economic law scholar Paul B. Stephan discussing his new book, The World Crisis and International Law: The Knowledge Economy and the Battle for the Future . Professor Stephan (Virginia) joins host Professor Katerina Linos (Berkeley) for a fascinating look at how the limits of international law are tested and found wanting in the era of...

Ralph Bunche’s monumental impact as a  ground-breaking scholar ,  diplomat ,  Nobel Peace Prize winner ,  civil rights advocate  and  world influencer  receives a thrilling spotlight in Episode #12 of Borderlines. UCLA Professor  Kal Raustiala  shares stories and highlights from his recent book,  The Absolutely Indispensable Man: Ralph Bunche, the...

How can Western democracies defend themselves against the weaponization of social media by authoritarian states ? Episode #11 of Borderlines welcomes Santa Clara Law Professor David Sloss , author of Tyrants on Twitter , a new book examining Russia and China ’s manipulation of digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram to wage information warfare. His analysis includes innova...

What happens when different legal systems give conflicting answers to the same question, and arguably, each set of rules applies? Episode #10 of Borderlines introduces U.S. and European Union approaches to Conflict of Laws in interstate and international contracts. Three experts join us: UC Berkeley Professor Andrew Bradt , author of Complex Litigation , UC Davis Professor Bill Dodge , author of T...

Episode #9 of Borderlines features legendary U.S. Foreign Service Officer and Latin American expert Irving G. Tragen on the occasion of his 100th birthday, in conversation about his life and legacy with Berkeley Law’s newly-named Tragen Professor of Law , Dr. Katerina Linos.  Drawing on more than 55 years of distinguished public service in Inter-American Affairs , Irving Tragen recounts his f...

This special episode of Borderlines features Islamic legal studies and comparative and foreign law innovator Professor Intisar Rabb, talking about her leading research on shared methods of interpretation for textualists across different systems. The podcast builds upon ideas raised at the 2022 Irvine Tragen Lecture on Comparative Law at UC Berkeley School of Law. Intisar A. Rabb is a Professor of...

This special episode of Borderlines features influential educator, commentator, and litigator Philippe Sands discussing ground-breaking efforts to introduce ecocide – the crime of environmental destruction – into international legal arenas.  Philippe Sands QC is Professor of Law at University College London , Pisar Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard, and a barrister at Matrix Chambers . He...

From the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the rising dominance of China as a superpower, a fresh examination of international law’s role in the global division between dictatorship and democracy has rarely been more relevant. This special episode of Borderlines features award-winning scholar Tom Ginsburg discussing ideas and theories from his recent book, Democracies and International Law .   T...

The Digital Markets Act will regulate tech giants through a unique “gatekeeper” scheme. The Act imposes antitrust obligations only on the market’s largest actors – predominantly American companies. Is this fair? Will it work? In this special episode of Borderlines, listen to Margrethe Vestager , Europe’s top competition regulator and the policymaker Silicon Valley fears most, discuss the bill at t...

Dick Buxbaum’s  life and work are legendary far beyond his home base at  UC Berkeley Law School , where he’s been a member of the faculty, a  brilliant scholar of comparative corporate law , and a mentor since 1961. Listeners will relish accounts about key twentieth-century figures – from Nabokov to Savio to Suharto – and stories told from Dick’s unique perspective defending free-sp...

Thousands of non-binding agreements are shrouded in secrecy . A handful of publicly debated agreements - the Paris Climate Accords, the Iran Nuclear Deal or the Global Tax treaty – were made non-binding precisely to avoid a vote in Congress. Chicago Professor Curt Bradley , Harvard Professor Jack Goldsmith and Yale Professor Oona Hathaway sued the departments of State, Defense, and Homeland S...

How did Apple manage to pay an effective tax of 0% on its European profits? Will the new global minimum tax agreement change this? Duke Professor Rachel Brewster explains how corporate families are structured to take advantage of different countries’ laws; Chicago professor Adam Chilton empirically explores the regulation of supply chains ; while Berkeley Professor Stavros Gadinis explains why pro...

The US welcomes refugees from Afghanistan but turns away Haitians. Why? Debating how best to share responsibilities for refugees, UCLA professor Tendayi Achiume argues that empires owe special duties to former colonies; Temple Professor Jaya Ramji-Nogales explains the special rules following the US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan; while Berkeley professor Seth Davis contrasts how different US s...

Introducing Borderlines from Berkeley Law, a show about global problems in a world fragmented by national borders. Our host is Katerina Linos , Tragen Professor of International Law and co-director of the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law . Katerina has spent 15 years researching how nations make war with one another, spreading devastation. But she has also seen how countries work...