History of Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems

In 1990, Professor Burns Weston and University of Iowa College of Law students established Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems (“TLCP”) as the first University of Iowa international law journal. Each issue of TLCP focuses on contemporary problems involving transnational law, which encompasses public, private, and comparative international law. TLCP goes beyond the traditional limits of legal scholarship by analyzing interdisciplinary contemporary problems such as regional trade agreements, terrorism, globalization, and international child abduction laws. TLCP publishes issues through an open submissions process. TLCP’s multidisciplinary coverage allows for contributions from experts around the world, not only in law but also in economics, political science, international relations, sociology, and other non-legal disciplines.

Student Writers may write about any legal issue that interests them and has a nexus to international law. In addition to the Articles and Student Notes published in each issue, the Journal also features the work of students from outside the United States and direct commentary from important transnational law figures. TLCP sponsors and publishes the winning essay of the Trandafir International Business Writing Competition, which 
focuses on contemporary business and economic concerns. Additionally, in the past, the TLCP staff has conducted Living History Interviews with an accomplished international figure each year. Past interviewees have included Sir Geoffrey W.R. Palmer (former Prime Minister of New Zealand), Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug, Arthur Dunkel (former Secretary-General of the GATT), and Jim Leach (former U.S. House Representative for 
Iowa).