New Experiences of International Arbitration in the United States

Abstract

The use of arbitration to resolve international commercial dis putes has grown substantially over the past decade.' Between 1993 and 2003, the number of international arbitration proceedings ad ministered by leading institutions almost doubled.2 During that same period, the international arbitration caseload of the American Arbi tration Association (AAA) more than tripled,3 prompting the AAA to announce in 2002 that it had become the largest international com mercial arbitral institution in the world.4 The growth of the AAA caseload (in both absolute and relative terms) hints at an increasing American involvement in international arbitration-one that other information (both anecdotal and empirical) confirms. This increasing U.S. involvement is itself a new experience of international arbitra tion. Other new experiences with international arbitration in the U.S.-such as investor-state arbitration and arbitration of electronic commerce disputes-mirror similar experiences elsewhere in the world. But some U.S. experiences-particularly with consumer and employment arbitration-are unique, or at least highly unusual, compared to the rest of the world.