Arbitrating for Peace

Book excerpt: Although short of attaining the ideal of a ‘substitute for war’, arbitration has largely succeeded in peacefully resolving international disputes. Beyond that, arbitral commitments and arbitral processes have deepened civilized and cooperative international relations, promoted the development of international law and international institutions, and facilitated the well-being of mankind in multiple important ways. Particulars of that proposition are set forth in this one-of-a-kind book. Each of the fourteen chapters is devoted to one landmark international arbitration case, primarily state-to-state but also includes commercial disputes with geopolitical dimensions. Each chapter is written by a practitioner and/or academic of high international standing. The project was initiated by the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, which celebrates its centennial in 2017. By focusing on landmark cases, the book contributes to a continued dynamic development of dispute resolution in complicated or sensitive geopolitical contexts, and demonstrates how arbitration has and can continue to play an important role for international relations. Practitioners, political decision makers, and academics in any part of the world with an interest in international arbitration and international law or political history and policy on an international level will find it not only deeply informative but also immensely useful.