I just posted a draft of a chapter that I’m contributing to International Law as Behavior (Harlan G. Cohen & Timothy Meyer eds., forthcoming Cambridge University Press), an edited volume that will offer interdisciplinary analyses on a variety of topics in international law. Here’s the abstract for the chapter, which is available on SSRN:

A substantial body of research in social psychology suggests that egocentric biases inhibit our ability to discern norms. This chapter identifies and explains two of those biases – the False Consensus Effect and the False Uniqueness Effect – and then explores their relevance and implications for efforts to identify customary international law (CIL). Among other things, the analysis offers insights on the persistent objector rule, the origins and evolution of CIL, and the merits of rational choice models.