Abstract
Treaties are an essential source of international law, and they are permitted to be terminated. The rules governing termination, namely the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, highlight two main goals of treaties: the stability and flexibility of agreements. Brexit highlights these goals and illustrates the tensions that arise. When parties terminate their treaties, they are ultimately stuck in a goldilocks dilemma. Essentially, the parties have to balance a combination of factors to achieve just the right outcome. The United Kingdom and the European Union were caught in this goldilocks dilemma which Brexit depicts. In the end, the parties were unable resolve this dilemma in terms of trade, which caused trade to be negatively impacted for both parties. In the future, parties should try to strike a proper balance between stability and flexibility at the beginning of their relations, so when it comes time to terminate their treaties, certain variables such as trade are not negatively impacted.
Recommended Citation
Catherine Fabiano,
The Goldilocks Dilemma in Terminating Treaties: The Case Study of Brexit and Trade,
44
Nw. J. Int'l L. & Bus.
505
(2024).
https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njilb/vol44/iss3/4
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