Navigating the Backlash against Global Law and Institutions

This article considers the recent ‘Backlash’ against global norms and institutions fuelled by various contemporary political developments within and between states. Understanding the shape, significance and drivers of this phenomenon better is a pre-requisite to developing and analysing possible responses by Australia and other states. The current global legal order was established after World War II and is underpinned by the United Nations Charter, international law in general, and the growing collection of multilateral international legal instruments by which states agree to conduct their international relations. The sweep of the global legal order is broad, encompassing norms and institutions that seek to foster international cooperation across a range of spheres, including development, the environment, finance, health, human rights, science, security and trade. The United States has historically been considered the leader and guarantor of the post-1945 legal order, playing host to its most important institutions. The US has provided key economic, political, and diplomatic backing throughout its time as one of two superpowers during the Cold War, and as the hegemonic power for most of the period since. Australia has also been a strong supporter of the liberal rules-based order, commitment to which explicitly underpins its current official foreign policy posture.1 It was a founding member of the United Nations and has traditionally been involved in the drafting of, and been swift to sign on to, new international covenants that clarify and crystalise the heretofore expanding reach of international law