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10 Geo. Int'l Envtl. L. Rev. 243 (1997-1998)
Foreword: The Role of International Environmental Law in the Changing Structure of International Law

handle is hein.journals/gintenlr10 and id is 251 raw text is: Foreword: The Role of International Environmental Law in the Changing Structure of International Law LAYLA A. HUGHES, EXECUTIVE EDITOR* The development of international environmental law has rapidly increased in response to the recent explosion of global markets, technology and population. While in the past, traditional procedures and principles of international law may have been sufficient to govern the interactions between states, today's interna- tional problems rarely fall along state lines, and are not easily addressed by our state-centered political system. The growth of technology, global markets and population results in an ever-expanding web of connection between international actors. The activities of an individual, corporation or government may have once had limited external effects, but now affect others throughout the world in complex ways that are not immediately apparent. In addition, there is an increasing connection between many international problems, such as economic development, environmental protection and foreign debt. These expanding con- nections dictate that our approach to international problems be cooperative and interdisciplinary. By promoting new ways to address these global changes, international environ- mental law has expanded beyond, and at times conflicts with, the dictates of traditional international law. As it strives to govern modern-day international interactions, international environmental law promises to define the future system of international law as a new structure for international cooperation, It is therefore important to understand the dynamic relationship between both bodies of law. If we can identify those areas where international environmental law has already begun to change the structure of international law, we may begin to develop a coherent view of what international law should become in the twenty-first century. The following discussion will demonstrate how the authors in the 1998 Focus Issue examine the effects of international environmental law on the structure of international law by concentrating on: the growing importance of participation and representation of non-state actors in the international legal process; the changing role of and emphasis on soft law in formulating international obliga- * J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1998; B.A., cum laude, International Relations and Environmen- tal Studies, American University, 1995. I would like to thank the Focus Issue authors and Professor Edith Brown Weiss, for making this issue possible. 243

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