State authority and international environmental law (United States-Canada, Mexico)

In this dissertation, I examine how states use international law to manage the natural environment, particularly when the resources extend beyond state boundaries. While this project is concerned with how states use international environmental law in general, the larger question that I ask is how managing the international environment in turn influences states. How does international environmental law affect state authority? Is state authority weakening? How do states assert their power and authority in view of a growing network of international law?; In order to answer these questions, I develop a three-sided model of state authority that incorporates three distinct elements of state authority: territorial sovereignty, internal sovereignty, and state capacity. The analysis begins with an examination of international environmental law across the world, with a focus on two major global framework agreements: the 1972 Stockholm Declaration, and the 1992 Rio Declaration. I then move on to explore bilateral law over two important resources, freshwater and wildlife, along the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders. The analysis concludes with a discussion of the interplay between local-level demands and federal action in two recent environmental conflicts.; Through this analysis, I find that states are willing to cede a degree of authority internationally, particularly through the creation of international governing bodies and participation in binding agreements, in order to more effectively govern their territory domestically by building state capacity and asserting internal authority.