Parties to international contracts have long chosen arbitration as the preferred method to resolve disputes; among other reasons, it provides them with a neutral decision-maker, rather than the home courts of either party, and international arbitration awards are more easily enforced than court judgments because of the UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (commonly known as the New York Convention), which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Moreover, a web of more than 3000 bilateral and multilateral investment treaties offers arbitration if an investor believes that the state has violated a promise under that treaty, and the number of such investor-state arbitrations has grown significantly.
