The global governance of FDI and the non-market strategies of TNCs: explaining the “backlash” against bilateral investment treaties

This article seeks to explain recent decisions by countries terminate their existing bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and revisit commitment future international agreements (IIAs). It argues that BITs, transnational corporations (TNCs), host States arbitration institutions form a decentralized system of global governance foreign direct (FDI), based on insights from the fields political economy law, nonmarket strategies these TNCs have not only shaped contours this but also prompted reform system, perspective “political bargaining model”. The illustrates argument through case South Africa, which terminated its BITs with several European as response cases investor–State dispute settlement (ISDS) has sought redefine engagement result.