Given recent seismic upheavals in the world's money markets, an updated edition of an authoritative, reliable textbook on the international law of foreign investment has rarely been so timely. Sornarajah's classic text surveys how international law has developed to protect foreign investments by multinational actors and to control any misconduct on their part. It analyses treaty-based methods, examining the effectiveness of bilateral and regional investment treaties. It also considers the reverse flow of investments from emerging industrialising powers such as China and Brazil and explores the retreat from market oriented economics to regulatory controls. By offering thought-provoking analysis of not only the law, but related developments in economics and political sciences, Sornarajah gives immediacy and relevance to the discipline. This book is required reading for all postgraduate and undergraduate international law students specialising in the law of foreign investments.