An examination of GATT 1994 article XXI: fit for the current international security environment?

Abstract

Are GATT 1994 security exceptions fit for the current international security environment? How could these exceptions be modernised to better suit current realities? Using a transdisciplinary strategy that integrates doctrinal and socio-legal methods, this dissertation addresses these research questions. Through an interpretative analysis of GATT Article XXI, an examination of the current international landscape, a review of States’ security agendas, a comparative analysis of WTO case law with other international regimes, and a survey of policymakers, practitioners, and scholars’ views, this dissertation shows that the text of Article XXI, as it stands today, is not entirely suited for the current international security environment. Since GATT Article XXI’s formulation in 1947, technological advances and changes in the social, economic and political contexts at the international and domestic levels have significantly affected States’ security dynamics. States’ approaches to security have therefore expanded in recent years from an exclusive or predominating focus on traditional threats imperilling the physical integrity of the State, like military conflicts, to clearly non-traditional threats involving, for example, critical infrastructure, cybersecurity or political and economic concerns. Accordingly, this dissertation closes with policy recommendations to modernise GATT security exceptions to better suit modern realities.