The second edition of International Investment, Political Risk and Dispute Resolution explores the multi-layered legal framework for the protection of foreign investment against political risk. The authors expertly analyse some of the key issues surrounding this subject, such as structuring transactions to minimize political risk, political risk insurance, state responsibility, treaties protecting foreign investment, and international arbitration between states and investors. Since the previous edition was released in 2005, far more attention has been paid to these issues, in particular investor-state arbitration. All chapters have been revised to take into account the number of new arbitration awards that have come to light and the massive volume of commentary on the subject of international investment arbitration since the first edition. The authors have carefully considered the latest theoretical approaches to foreign investment protection and the most intellectually challenging awards issued in the intervening decade, as well as the most recent practical guidance on the procedural recourse available to investors who face political risks. This book is addressed to a wide audience, and is suitable as a primer for non-specialist practitioners seeking to familiarize themselves with international law pertaining to political risk. While appropriate for practitioner use, this book is also suitable for undergraduate students or for graduates who intend to specialize in international investment law.

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This monograph is justifiably considered a modern classic. It is by Stephan Kinsella who caused a worldwide rethinking among libertarians of the very basis of intellectual property. Mises had warned against patents, and Rothbard did too. But Kinsella goes much further to argue that the very existence of patents (including copyrights and trademarks) is contrary to a free market. They all use the state to create artificial scarcities of non-scarce goods and employ coercion in a way that is contrary to property rights and the freedom of contract. Many people who read this essay for the first time are unprepared for the rigor of his argument, which takes time to settle in, simply because it seems so shocking at first. But Kinsella makes his case with powerful logic and examples that are overwhelming in their persuasive power. The relevance in a digital age can't be overstated. The state works with monopolistic private producers to inhibit innovation and stop the progress of technology, while using coercion against possible competitors and against consumers. Even U.S. foreign policy is profoundly affected by widespread confusions over what is legitimate and merely asserted as property. What Kinsella is calling for instead of this cartelizing system is nothing more or less than a pure free market, which he argues would not generate anything resembling what we call intellectual property today. IP, he argues, is really a state-enforced legal convention, not an extension of real ownership. Few essays written in the last decades have caused so much fundamental rethinking. It is essential that libertarians get this issue right and understand the arguments on all sides. Kinsella's piece here is masterful in making a case against IP that turns out to be more rigorous and thorough than any written on the left, right, or anything in between. Read it and prepare to change your mind.