Can states adopt protectionist cultural policies? What are the limits, if any, to state intervention in cultural matters? A wide variety of cultural policies may interfere with foreign investments, and a tension therefore exists between the cultural policies of the host state and investment treaty provisions. In some cases, foreign investors have claimed that cultural policies have negatively affected their investments, thereby amounting to a breach of the relevant investment treaty. This study maps the relevant investor-state arbitrations concerning cultural elements and shows that...

Globalization and international economic governance offer unprecedented opportunities for cultural exchange. Foreign direct investments can promote cultural diversity and provide the funds needed to locate, recover and preserve cultural heritage. Nonetheless, globalization and international economic governance can also jeopardize cultural diversity and determine the erosion of the cultural wealth of nations. Has an international economic culture emerged that emphasizes productivity and economic development at the expense of the common wealth?

This book explores the clash of cultures...

International investment law is one of the most dynamic fields of international law, and yet it has been criticised for failing to strike a fair balance between private and public interests. In this valuable contribution to the current debate, Valentina Vadi examines the merits and pitfalls of arbitral tribunals' use of the concepts of proportionality and reasonableness to review the compatibility of a state's regulatory actions with its obligations under international investment law. Investment law scholars have hitherto given greater attention to the concept of proportionality than to...