Introduction

Everyone knows that besides having been a member of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Mechanism, Florentino Feliciano also has extensive experience as an arbitrator in international investment and commercial disputes at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID or ‘the Centre’) in Washington, at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, and that he is on the Arbitrators Panel of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) in New York; hence the idea to reflect on the recent evolution of ICSID, in this homage to a person who has been so deeply involved in the evolution of international economic law. This contribution intends to give some general views of the overall dramatic changes in the role played, in this time of globalization, by the mechanism provided for by ICSID. This arbitral institution is designed specifically for arbitration between states – subjects of public international law, and investors – subjects of national laws. The Washington Convention on Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States, which entered into force on 14 October 1966 and created ICSID, can be considered as a success story. Today, new directions appear that will be presented in this contribution.

General background on consent to international arbitration

ICSID was created at a time when new states, just appearing on the international scene after decolonization, as well as Latin American states en bloc, were quite reluctant to submit their contractual disputes with a foreign investor to arbitration.

Symbols and abbreviations

1. Ac axial (centripetal or centrifugal) acceleration of the mass

2. ΔC forward translation of the substrate contact point

3. COM center of mass

4. D instantaneous horizontal distance traveled by the mass since t = 0

5. Dh the total horizontal distance traveled by the mass during one swing of the inverted pendulum, i.e., the step length

6. f stride frequency

7. Fc centripetal force required to keep the mass on a circular path

8. GRFv vertical component of the ground reaction force

9. H instantaneous value of the height of the point mass (or COM)

10. H height of the point mass (or COM) at the middle of the first double-support phase

11. H height of the point mass (or COM) at the middle of the second double-support phase

12. H height of the point mass (or COM) at the middle of the single-support phase

13. ΔH maximum vertical excursion of the point mass (or COM) from MDS to MSS

14. I moment of inertia of the mass about the pivot point of the inverted pendulum

15. Lc the axially directed force exerted on the virtual stance limb (VSL) by the mass

16. -Lc the axially directed force exerted on the mass by the virtual stance limb (VSL)

17. M mass

18. MDS middle of double-support phase

19. MSS middle of single-support phase

20. R the length of the virtual stance limb (from substrate contact-point to the point mass or its surrogate) at any moment in time

21. R length of the virtual stance limb at MDS

22. R length of the virtual stance limb at MSS

23. S stature

24. t time

25. t half the duration of the swing of the inverted pendulum

26. V velocity of the mass

27. Vc axial (centripetal or centrifugal) velocity of the mass

28. Vo orbital (tangential) velocity of the mass

29. […]

Defining our subject during the course of our research meant proceeding in concentric circles. From a broad definition of women writers in exile, which would have included philosophers, historians, art historians, journalists, and literary critics, we were compelled to retreat to the narrower topic of abstraction about female contributors to the world of belles lettres. Our dilemma, an embarrassment of riches, may highlight once again - as the conference in Washington accomplished - the need and desirability of investigating the intellectual migration from Nazi Germany, particularly under the aspect of gender.

A few examples marking our narrowing circles illustrate (in conjunction with our later observations on autobiographers) the scholarly pathway lying ahead. For two reasons we were tempted to include, stowaway-fashion, the philosopher Hannah Arendt. Although she is an author of nonfiction only some of her prose, as in her biographical volume Men in Dark Times, straddles the invisible line between flawless expository writing and Kunstprosa, or poetic prose. Also, her undiminished influence was demonstrated anew when the prominent news analyst Charles Osgood, commenting on the controversy surrounding Clarence Thomas's confirmation as Supreme Court justice, quoted from her The Origins of Totalitarianism.