Introduction

Chafing at the bit of the international law that is applied in arbitrations with foreign investors, several South American states, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina are withdrawing from the Washington Convention and its International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), or resisting ICSID arbitration awards, or simply ignoring the terms of the bilateral investment treaties (BIT) made with their trading partners. These developments don't bode well for international standards governing foreign investment. But our southern ...