The Pandemic Paradox in International Law

This Essay examines a series of paradoxes that have rendered the international legal order's mechanisms for collective action powerless precisely when they are needed most to fight COVID-19. The patriotism paradox is that disengagement from the international legal order weakens rather than strengthens state sovereignty. The border paradox is that securing domestic populations by excluding noncitizens, in the absence of accompanying regulatory mechanisms to secure adherence to internal health measures, accelerates viral spread among citizens. The equality paradox is that while pandemics pose an equal threat to all people, their impacts compound existing inequalities.