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Foreword, Stephen M. Schwebel

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

I was glad to return to Vanderbilt Law School to take part in this Symposium on International Commercial Arbitration. I came because Jon Charney telephoned me last autumn to ask me to come. Jon Charney was a superb international lawyer and a splendid human being. He became a reigning expert on the Law of the Sea. But his interests in international law were wider than that wide subject. He wrote, for example, on the proliferation of international tribunals and on the position of the persistent objector in international law with exceptional acuity and insight.

Jon's professional accomplishments were increasingly large. …

Structure, Legitimacy, And Nafta's Investment Chapter, Charles H. Brower, Ii

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article, Professor Brower examines the investment chapter of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He argues that the relevant treaty provisions lack a substantial measure of textual clarity. In addition, he argues that ad hoc tribunals based on the commercial arbitration model have generated incoherent doctrine and are relatively less accountable, transparent, and accessible than permanent tribunals. Furthermore, he argues that the NAFTA Parties and their courts so far appear to place a higher priority on the pursuit of narrow self-interest than on the principled administration of international governance. Collectively, these circumstances help to explain the frequency …