International Economic Law in the 'Asian Century'.

The article analyzes the fragmentation and challenges of international economic law (IEL) within the United Nations (UN) and World Trade Organization (WTO) frameworks amid rising geopolitical rivalries and governance failures. It highlights how authoritarian regimes, notably China and Russia, undermine human rights, democratic constitutionalism, and multilateral legal commitments, contributing to regulatory competition and weakening global governance of transnational public goods (PGs) such as sustainable development goals (SDGs) and climate change mitigation. The European Union's multilevel constitutionalism and environmental constitutionalism are presented as comparatively effective models for integrating human rights and rule of law into economic governance, including through climate litigation and "climate protection clubs." However, the article concludes that without stronger democratic leadership, judicial remedies, and plurilateral cooperation among like-minded states, IEL risks further disintegration, with power politics and regionalization supplanting global rule-based order.