Introduction

Part I of this article introduces and compares the world trade and investment regimes. Part II identifies striking differences between WTO adjudicators and ICSID arbitrators in terms of nationality, professional background, legal expertise, diversity, status, and ideology. The metaphor of Mars and Venus is used here only to push the point that adjudicators are "from different planets," not to attribute specific features of Mars or Venus to either WTO or ICSID decision makers. Part III offers a number of factors that explain these differences, centered on appointment rules and conditions ...