Between Interests and Law The Politics of Transnational Commercial Disputes

We could not have a global economy without a system to resolve commercial disputes across borders, but the international regime that performs this key role bears little resemblance to other institutions underpinning the global economy. A hybrid of private arbitral institutions, international treaties, and domestic laws and courts, the regime for commercial dispute resolution shows that effective transborder institutions can take a variety of forms. This book offers the first comprehensive social scientific account of this surprisingly effective regime. It maps and explains its evolution since the Industrial Revolution, both at the global level and in the United States, Argentina, and China. The book shows how both political economy approaches and socio-legal theories have shaped institutional outcomes. While economic interests have been the chief determinants, legal processes have played a key role in shaping the form institutions take. The regime for commercial dispute resolution therefore remains between interests and law.

1. Introduction; 2. The past and present regime for transborder commercial disputes; 3. Institutions between interests and law; 4. The intergovernmental regime: from interests to law over a century; 5. The United States; 6. Argentina; 7. China; 8. Conclusion.

Thomas Hale is Associate Professor at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. His previous books include Transnational Climate Change Governance (Cambridge University Prerss, 2014) with Harriet Bulkeley, Liliana Andonova, Michele M. Betsill, Daniel Compagnon, Matthew J. Hoffmann, Peter Newell, Matthew Paterson, Charles Roger and Stacy D. VanDeveer, and Gridlock: Why Global Cooperation Is Failing When We Need it Most (2013).