Introduction
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book’s main themes. It begins with a discussion of the concept of foreign direct investment (FDI). It then details the emergence of a New International Economic Order movement, in which a large number of States initiated a campaign against the prevailing norms of equal treatment for foreign investors, culminating in a U.N. resolution known as the Charter for Economic Rights and Duties of States. It also describes developing States’ changing attitudes toward FDI. Among the questions addressed by this are: What can an investor do to deter manifestations of political risk once the investment has been made? How can international law be brought to bear as protection against political risk? What remedies are available if political risk materializes to the investors’ detriment?