This book is a revised and expanded version of the General Course delivered by the author at the Hague Academy of International Law. It contains three parts that discuss theory and practice of adjudicatory authority in private international law in comparative perspective focusing on the United States, Germany and the European Union. The first part examines the foundations and emergence of jurisdictional theory elaborating on the types of adjudicatory authority and the design of jurisdictional provisions. Part two covers basic themes and pervasive issues reflecting, inter alia, on the actor...