Lenin's Parrot: The Politics of International Property Rights

The international regime for the protection of foreign investment is one of the most potent, and contentious, areas of global economic governance. In recent decades, private arbitrators have asked governments to pay compensation to foreign investors for a wide range of sovereign acts, including in sensitive areas of regulation like climate change policy. A growing number of tribunal decisions involve compensation of hundreds of millions of pounds or more and governments around the world are grappling with how to rein in the regime. This lecture asks how we got to this point. Based on more than a decade of research, Prof Poulsen will challenge common narratives on how international property rights emerged in the twentieth century and suggest this holds broader lessons for the study of international cooperation and conflict.
 
The lecture will draw on more than decade of research by Prof Poulsen, including:

• Settling Russia’s Imperial Debts. American Journal of International Law (conditional accept). With Denza.
• Investment Law Before Arbitration. Journal of International Economic Law, 23(4) 2020. With Hepburn, Paparinskis, and Waibel. 
• Beyond Credible Commitments. International Studies Quarterly, 64(1) 2020.
• Legalization, Diplomacy, and Development. World Development 107, 2018. With Gertz and Jandhyala.
• The Political Economy of the Investment Treaty Regime. Oxford University Press, 2017. With Waibel and Bonnitcha. 
• Bounded Rationality and Economic Diplomacy. Cambridge University Press, 2015. 
• Bounded Rationality and the Diffusion of Modern Investment Treaties. International Studies Quarterly, 58(1) 2014.
• When the Claim Hits. World Politics, 65(2) 2013. With Aisbett.

Please join us for Professor Poulsen's Inaugural Lecture, followed by a drinks reception.

Lecture: 18:30-19:30
Drinks Reception: 19:30-20:30
 

This event is wheelchair accessible. Accessibility information for:

Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre (AccessAble)
- wheelchair access info
Haldane Room (AccessAble) (drinks reception)
- wheelchair access info

This lecture will now be available to watch via Zoom. If you wish to join online, please select an 'online only' ticket when booking.