Dynamics of change in international investment law

Abstract This article examines the ways in which international investment law evolves. It argues that its initial focus on prosperity and security, at the expense of justice and freedom, coupled with the system’s social and political dis-embeddedness, led to its current state of disenchantment. That current state of affairs is not as easily remedied as it seems. Treaty renegotiations and procedural reforms have largely been ineffective in altering the system's actual operation, reflecting a disconnect between our law-in-books perception of it and its law-in-action reality. Society has to some extent lost control over the system, and never really has had. To understand these dynamics, to facilitate meaningful reform, and ultimately to ensure that the regime better aligns with broader societal values, the article emphasizes the need for an approach drawing on complexity theory: a holistic understanding of the complex interdependencies within the system.