International energy law embodies a matter of keen interest that affects the daily lives of citizens in developing and developed countries worldwide. Among numerous other effects, international energy law influences gas prices, wages, employment rates and domestic market regulations. The weight of these direct consequences of international energy law and policy led to the creation of this year’s symposium topic. The goal of this year’s symposium is to identify issues arising from various international energy laws as well as to understand the effects that recent international events, including the fall of Enron, the creation of NAFTA and the political unrest in the Middle East, have had on the formulation and implementation of international energy law. The papers in this issue examine the corporate, political, social, legal and other factors impacted by energy law and policy across the globe. Each article in the symposium issue addresses cross-cutting issues relating to the field of international energy law, in the hopes that every country may draw lessons from successful laws or policies as well as mistakes made.
