2 Chi J Intl L 101
Ryan Goodman

This essay starts from the conventional view that national security exceptions simply allow states to opt out of international obligations and that an invocation of such an exception accordingly represents a retreat from international norms. The WTO experience serves as an important testing ground for this view given the recent controversies over US practices. I argue that, along one dimension, the US position–the stance that severe human rights violations constitute a threat to security interests–accords with and furthers emergent international norms.