This Cambridge Companion explores the main senses of the term 'international arbitration'; including the arbitration of private commercial disputes, disputes between a State and a foreign investor, disputes between States and also between a State and its parts. It treats these various forms as being inter-related, if not always conceptually, then as a matter of history, rather than as collective victims of imprecise language. The book touches not only on current debates but also more foundational aspects, such as the tension between party autonomy and State authority, and the pacifist roots of modern international arbitration. Thus, it aims to offer a concise survey of the history, the main issues as well as the latest developments in a single, handy volume. It will be an invaluable introduction to the subject for students studying international arbitration, commercial law and international law, and also lawyers and the general reader.

'[The volume] provides international arbitration enthusiasts with an indispensable companion to understand its reliefs, and grasp its substance. … Its quality, evident from reading its content, is just as obvious to the simple consultation of the list of its authors, each of whom has helped to shape the very essence of international arbitration in recent decades … readers will be able to enrich their thinking on arbitrage and will also have at their disposal a series of useful tools for understanding the discipline as a whole.' Pierre Nosewicz, Revue Critique de Droit International Privé

Chin Leng Lim is Choh-Ming Li Professor of Law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Honorary Senior Fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, and Visiting Professor at King's College, London. He practises at Keating Chambers, London.