https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclrev/vol72/iss2/2
Oona A. Hathaway, writing in the University of Chicago Law Review, investigates why states voluntarily commit to international treaties that constrain their future behavior. She develops an integrated theory of international law, concluding that the “collateral consequences of treaty membership” drive states to accept binding constraints. The analytical model brilliantly explains the paradox of voluntary submission, though its broad legal focus requires the reader to apply the theory specifically to economic pre-commitments. This framework offers future trade-law practitioners a structural explanation for why governments trade domestic policy space for international capital access. The integrated theory validates the core thesis, demonstrating exactly how consent mechanisms operate to bind future policy autonomy.