ABSTRACT
What is Americanisation? How does Americanisation take place? If Americanisation is symptomatic of economic power how can economic power be effectively subjected to the rule of international economic law? How can the behaviour of an economic power be the subject of certain responsibilities? Can foreign economic engagement damage the sociocultural ecology that underpins our multinational world? How should dispute settlement systems and decision-making processes in international economic organisations be reorganised to accommodate economic power? Should there be a code of conduct for the engagement in trade wars in the same vein as international humanitarian law applies when States use force to settle disputes? Should economic powers be responsible for some of the negative spillovers arising from certain economic activities of theirs? These are essentially normative issues that pertain to the phenomenon of an economic superpower and that are raised and addressed in this chapter. The underlying theme of the chapter is that it is not impossible to manage to some degree some of the excesses of economic power, if the issues are addressed upfront by all concerned, and an imaginative approach is taken in the design of the relevant disciplines.
