William W. Burke-White Named Berlin Prize Fellow to Examine the Future of International Economic Law
Prestigious fellowship at the American Academy in Berlin supports Penn scholarship on international economic law amid growing geopolitical fragmentation.
William W. Burke-White, PhD, JD, Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, has been named a 2026–27 Berlin Prize Fellow by the American Academy in Berlin, one of the nation’s distinguished residential fellowship programs for scholars, writers, artists, and public policy leaders.
The fellowship will support Burke-White’s book project, Connectivity without Consensus: Recasting International Economic Law for a Fragmented World, which examines how international economic law can function as governments increasingly use tariffs, sanctions, export controls, investment screening, subsidies, and industrial policy to advance national security and geopolitical objectives..
William W. Burke-White, Ph.D., JD
Professor of Law
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Burke-White’s scholarship focuses on international law, multilateral institutions, U.S. foreign policy, and global governance. His Berlin Prize project addresses a central challenge facing the international economic system: how to preserve cross-border trade, investment, finance, and technological exchange at a time when governments increasingly disagree about the rules and objectives that should govern globalization.
Rather than seeking to recreate the political and economic consensus that shaped the postwar international order, Burke-White is exploring how international economic law might evolve to manage disagreement more effectively. His research considers whether legal frameworks can structure domestic economic intervention, manage conflict among states, and preserve meaningful economic connectivity in a more fragmented geopolitical environment.
The fall semester fellowship will support a broader book project Burke-White will pursue during his upcoming sabbatical. Berlin offers a particularly relevant setting for this research, given Germany and Europe’s central roles in contemporary debates over economic security, sanctions, industrial policy, investment screening, and the future of transatlantic economic relations.
Connecting Penn Scholarship with Berlin
The Berlin Prize creates an opportunity for Penn scholarship to engage directly with an international community of researchers, policymakers, artists, and public leaders in one of Europe’s leading centers for intellectual and cultural exchange. Burke-White’s residency will place his research within ongoing European conversations about economic governance, security, and the changing international order while creating opportunities for sustained scholarly exchange.
Through support for faculty excellence, interdisciplinary scholarship, and international research engagement, the Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR) helps strengthen connections between Penn scholars and leading research communities worldwide. Opportunities such as the Berlin Prize demonstrate how international scholarly exchange can bring new perspectives to complex questions whose implications extend across disciplines, institutions, and national borders.