ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the question of contracting across national boundaries might best be tackled, given not only differences in law and legal systems, but also distinct cultural differences. Attempts at drafting such uniform laws will always tend to lead to 'laws' that are so vague and so littered with potential derogations that they are in effect meaningless, because such a universal 'rule-book' simply cannot harmonize with every relevant social matrix. It is submitted, therefore, that such attempts are essentially doomed from the start because of their inevitable, unavoidable, inherent inability to effectuate the norm of harmonization with the social matrix. The need for the contract 'rule-book' to be in conformity with social mores is likely to dictate the adoption of different rules in different jurisdictions, of course. Herein lies a major challenge that globalization presents. Globalization in the sense of European–North American cultural imperialism seems very open to not unreasonable criticism in many respects.
