The post-Cold War era has seen an unprecedented move towards more legalization in international cooperation and a growth of third-party dispute settlement systems. WTO panels, the Appellate Body and investor-state dispute settlement cases have received increasing attention beyond the core trade and investment constituencies within governments. Scrutiny by business, civil society, academia, and trade and investment experts has been on the rise. This book asks whether we observe a transformation or a demise of existing institutions and mechanisms to adjudicate disputes over trade or investment. It makes a contribution to the question in which direction international economic dispute settlement is heading in times of change, uncertainty and increasing economic nationalism. In order to do so, it brings together chapters written by leading researchers and experts in law and political science to address the challenges of settling disputes in the global economy and to sketch possible scenarios ahead of us.

'This excellent volume presents a comprehensive and unified investigation of dispute settlement institutions across trade and investment. The contributions from noted law practitioners and scholars, as well as political scientists, probe the many serious challenges facing the WTO DSM and ISDS, while also presenting solutions for the rejuvenation of existing institutions and the development of new ones.' Todd Allee, Associate Professor of Government and Politics, University of Maryland

Manfred Elsig is Professor of International Relations at the World Trade Institute of the University of Bern. He is the co-founder of the Design of Trade Agreements Database (DESTA) and the Electronic Database of Investment Treaties (EDIT). He is a co-editor of World Trade Review. Rodrigo Polanco is a senior researcher, lecturer and academic coordinator at the World Trade Institute, University of Bern, a Legal Adviser at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, and a visiting professor at University de Chile. He is the co-founder of EDIT. Peter Van den Bossche is Director of Studies of the World Trade Institute and Professor of International Economic Law at the University of Bern, Switzerland. From 2009 to 2019, he was a Member of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization and served as chairman of the Appellate Body in 2015.