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PROF. BRYAN H. DRUZIN

Associate Professor

Tel

Fax

Email

Office

(852)  3943 1044

(852) 2994 2505

bryandruzin@cuhk.edu.hk

Room 526
Faculty of Law
5/F, Lee Shau Kee Building
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sha Tin, NT, Hong Kong SAR

Bryan Druzin is Associate Professor of Law and Legal Theory at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he teaches jurisprudence and ethics. His research focusses on institutional theory, international law, and global governance. He has held teaching positions at King’s College London, Brunel University London, and as a Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. He holds a B.A., LL.B., and LL.M. from the University of British Columbia and a PhD in law from King’s College London. He is former Director of the Faculty’s LLM Programmes and is a Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Law, Conflict and Crisis (CILG) at the University of Copenhagen.

Professor Druzin has published widely in journals at leading U.S. law schools, such as Harvard, Cornell, and Columbia, noted peer-reviewed journals, and has contributed to edited volumes from Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. His work explores how institutions and governance structures emerge, persist, and collapse—particularly where centralized authority is absent or weak. He has written on a range of topics in this area, from the self-ordering potential of international law to the evolution of social norms, rights, and inequality.

His current research examines the impact of geopolitical fragmentation on international law. His work has also recently extended to the challenges of AI governance, which poses the same foundational question: how to establish effective governance where centralized authority is absent or inadequate.

Dr. Druzin’s scholarship is distinguished by its strong interdisciplinary approach, which draws from rational choice, game theory, and, specifically, the study of network dynamics. A defining feature of his scholarship is his application of network effect theory to explain legal standardization and the stability of international systems. He is the recipient of the CU Research Excellence Award, recognizing his innovative contributions to the study of governance in anarchic systems, and has contributed to media outlets such as the CBC National News, CNN, The Guardian, the National Post, and the South China Morning Post.

AREAS OF INTEREST

  • Institutional Theory
  • Law and Norms
  • International Relations Theory
  • AI Governance

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

Published Conference Papers

Book Chapters

    Book Reviews

    CONFERENCE PAPERS AND ROUNDTABLES

    • Invited to participate in Law-Following AI Workshop, hosted by the Institute for Law & AI (LawAI) and the Centre for the Future of Intelligence at Cambridge University and funded in part by the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA), at Christ’s College, University of Cambridge (August 2025).
    • Roundtable discussion: Global Perspectives on AI Governance, hosted by Penn Wharton China Center, Wharton Accountable AI Lab, and Peking University at Peking University in Beijing, China (May 2025).
    • “Taking Intergenerational Rights Seriously” presented at the Distributive Justice in International Law Joint Conference, hosted by the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (CEENRG) and the Centre for International and Strategic Studies (CISS) at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, Italy (October 2024).
    • Invited to chair the European China Law Studies Association Conference (ECLS) 2024 Annual Conference in Hong Kong, China (September 2024).
    • “Exporting Legal Standards along the Belt and Road” presented at the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL) Intersessional Conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan (May 2024).
    • “UNCITRAL and the Spontaneous Harmonization of Legal Standards” invited to speak at the 10th Anniversary UNCITRAL RCAP-UM Joint Conference in Macau, China (December 2023).
    • “Law’s War on Social Norms: Examining the Limits of Law as an Instrument of Normative Change” invited to speak at the 2023 Asian Law and Economics Association Annual Conference (AsLEA), at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan (August 2023).
    • “A World unraveling: Can Multilateral Environmental Governance be sustained?” invited to speak at Liberalism and Ecology in the Anthropocene, hosted by the European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group on International Legal Theory and Philosophy at the University of Messina in Messina, Italy (June 2022).
    • “Lit Matches and Dry Prairie Fields: The Internet as a Source for Abrupt Normative Change” invited to speak at the 2019 Canadian Law & Economics Conference (CLEA), at The University of Toronto Faculty of Law in Toronto, Canada (September 2019).
    • “Digital Lemmings: Internet Control and Herd Behavior” presented at the 15th Annual meeting of the Asian Law and Economics Association (AsLEA), at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand (June 2019).
    • “Online Communication, Cyber-speech Cascades, and sudden Changes in Mass Behavior” invited to speak at the University of Copenhagen Faculty of Law in Copenhagen, Denmark (June 2019).
    • “Does the Return of Great-Power Rivalry mean the end of the Liberal International Economic Order?” invited to present at International Law in Times of Trade Wars and Global Environmental Problems, hosted by the European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group on International Environmental Law at Moscow State University in Moscow, Russia (May 2019).
    • “The Possibility of Using Network Effects to Strengthen International Environmental Governance” invited to present at the 2019 Meeting of the Society for Environmental Law and Economics (SELE) at Diego Portales University Faculty of Law in Santiago, Chile (March 2019).
    • “Sustaining Multilateral Environmental Agreements in a Period of Shifting Geopolitical Power” invited to speak at the 6th WOC Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS) in Hong Kong (November 2018).
    • “The Coming Collapse of International Economic Integration” presented at the Joint North American Conference on International Economic Law, supported by the American Society of International Law (ASIL), the Canadian Council on International Law (CCIL), and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) at McGill University Faculty of Law in Montreal, Canada (September 2018).
    • “Networks and Institutional Power” presented at the 14th Annual meeting of the Asian Law and Economics Association (AsLEA), at the Singapore Academy of Law in Singapore (August 2018).
    • “Corporate Responsibility and the Limits of Soft Law” invited to present on a panel discussion at the 2018 Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) annual conference in Kyoto, Japan (June 2018).
    • “Strengthening International Institutions in a Time of Global Disorder” presented at the European Society of International Law (ESIL) Research Forum at Hebrew University Faculty of Law in Jerusalem, Israel (February 2018).
    • “Controlling Public Opinion in the Digital Age” invited to speak at Law and the Digital Age at Qatar University College of Law in Doha, Qatar (February 2018).
    • “Escaping Institutional Lock-in” invited to speak at The Future of Asian Trade Deals and IP at Singapore Management University in Singapore (December 2017).
    • “The Rise of Soft Law” invited to speak at the 2nd Annual Conference of the French Association of Law and Economics (AFED) at Aix-Marseille University in Marseille, France (November 2017).
    • “Toward a Network Model of Soft Law” invited to speak at the 3rd European Conference on Social Networks (EUSN) at Johannes Gutenberg University Institute of Sociology in Mainz, Germany (September 2017).
    • “Institutional Lock-In’ within the Field of Investment Arbitration” presented at the Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL) in Seoul, Korea (August 2017).
    • “The US has abandoned the Paris Climate Agreement—is its Collapse now inevitable?” presented at the 13th Annual meeting of the Asian Law and Economics Association (AsLEA) in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam (June 2017).
    • “Why does Soft Law have Power?” presented at the 27th Annual Meeting of the American Law and Economics Association (ALEA) at Yale Law school in New Haven, United States (May 2017).
    • “A Proposal to solve the Tragedy of the Commons in International Environmental Governance” invited to present at the 2017 Meeting of the Society for Environmental Law and Economics (SELE) at Worcester College, University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom (May 2017).
    • “Towards a Greater Practice of Investment Arbitration in Asia-Pacific” invited to present on a panel discussion at the 14th Asian Law Institute Conference (ASLI) in Manila, Philippines (May 2017).
    • “A Theory of Speech Cascades” invited to present at the 111th Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual meeting in San Francisco, United States (January 2017).
    • “Legal Ambiguity and the Limits of Censorship” presented at the 11th Annual General Conference of the European China Law Studies Association (ECLS) at the University of Roma TRE Faculty of Law in Rome, Italy (September 2016).
    • Invited to chair the Asia WTO Research Network (AWRN) 2016 Annual Conference The Trans-Pacific Partnership: A Paradigm Shift in International Trade Regulation? in Hong Kong, China (May 2016).
    • “Why Utilitarianism is not a Moral Theory” invited as keynote speaker at the ‘World Lumen Congress 2016’ in Iasi, Romania (April 2016).
    • “Soft Law as Spontaneous Order” invited to present at ‘HKU-NUS-SMU Conference 2016’ at The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law in Hong Kong (February 2016).
    • “Sustainable Development in China: An Opportunity for Creative Environmental Governance” invited to present at ‘Consumer Policy in China: New Trends and Challenges’ at The University of Macau Faculty of Law in Macau, China (December 2015).
    • “Understanding the force of Soft Law” presented at the Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL) in Bangkok, Thailand (November 2015).
    • “The Fragility of the Norms that underpin Environmental Cooperation: A Game Theoretic Analysis” invited to present at the ‘International Conference on Cooperation between China and ASIAN States on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage’ at the South China Sea Institute of Xiamen University in Xiamen, China (November 2015).
    • “Why Soft Law has Influence and how to harness its Power to strengthen International Law” presented at the American Society of International Law Research Forum (ASIL) at The American University Faculty of Law in Washington DC, United States (October 2015).
    • Invited to attend the LEC Workshop for Law Professors on Austrian Law & Economics at George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, United States (October 2015).
    • “The Normative Future of Sustainable Development” invited to present at ‘Sustainable Development and International Law: Current Issues and Future Challenges’ at The Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law, co-organized by the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau in Hong Kong, SAR (October 2015).
    • “Why the Nation-state does not make Sense” invited to present at ‘New Approaches in Social and Humanistic Sciences’ at The Public Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova in Chisinau, Moldova (September 2015).
    • “Our Massive Castles in the Sky: Why the Nation State is Illegitimate” presented at the International Society for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, XXVII World Congress at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington DC, United States (July 2015).
    • Invited to attend the LEC Thirty-First Economics Institute for Law Professors, Henry G. Manne Program in Law & Economics Studies at George Mason University School of Law in Virginia, United States (July 2015).
    • Invited to attend Expert Roundtable on International Investment Law and Sustainable Development at L’Université Panthéon-Assas Paris II, CRED – Paris Center for Law and Economics in Paris, France (July 2015).
    • “From Chaos to Cooperation: A Proposal to strengthen International Treaty Compliance” invited to present at the UK-China Comparative Public Law Symposium at Shandong University in Jinan, China (April 2015).
    • “Fixing the Tragedy in the Tragedy of the Commons” presented at ‘Managing the Globalization of Water Services in a World Affected by Climate Change’ in Hong Kong, SAR (March 2015).
    • Invited to chair the European China Law Studies Association conference (ECLS) 2014 Annual Conference ‘Making, Enforcing and Accessing the Law’ in Hong Kong, China (November 2014).
    • “The Enhancement of International Trade through Spontaneous Harmonization” invited to present at the 2014 UNCITRAL Asia-Pacific Fall Conference “Trade Development through the Harmonization of Commercial Law” in Macau, China (October 2014).
    • “The new Lex Maritima and the Possibility of Stateless Legal Order” invited to present at The Continued Development of Shipping Law: The Role of Arbitration (roundtable) at Queen Mary University London Centre for Commercial Law Studies in London, United Kingdom (July 2014).
    • “The parched Earth of Cooperation: Solving the Tragedy of the Commons in Global Water Conservation” invited to present at the Globalization of Water Services International Rules and Challenges at Maastricht University in Brussels in Brussels, Belgium (June 2014).
    • “Anarchy, Order, and Trade: A partial Account of why a global, unified Commercial Legal Order is emerging” presented at the Asian Conference on Politics, Economy and Law (ACPEL) in Osaka, Japan (November 2013).
    • “Authoritarianism’s new Leash on Speech” presented at the Joint-workshop on Technology, Energy and International Economic Law at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong, SAR (September 2012).
    • “A Semiotic Approach to Law and Norms” presented at the 10th International Roundtable for the Semiotics of Law “Intercultural Awareness in Legal Language” at The Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (November 2011).
    • “Towards a Postmodern Conception of Law” presented at the 13th annual Interdisciplinary Legal Studies Graduate Students Conference, Law without Borders at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada (May 2008).

    AWARDS

    • CU Research Excellence Award 2015
    • University of British Columbia Graduate Scholarship Award 2007
    • Hugh M Brock Scholarship Award 2002

    OCCASIONAL REVIEWER

    • Law & Social Inquiry
    • International Journal for the Semiotics of Law
    • Hart Publishing 
    • Rationality and Society
    • Social Theory and Practice