This book is a revised and expanded doctoral thesis which I submitted to the Law Faculty of the University of Vienna in April 2008. First and foremost, I thank my supervisor August Reinisch. Not only did he stimulate my enthusiasm for international law early in my undergraduate career, he also encouraged me to work on sovereign debt, when I was still groping in the dark, answered an incessant flow of questions and challenged my assumptions. He was the best doctoral supervisor anyone could hope for.

I further owe special thanks to Detlev Vagts, the Bemis Professor of International Law Emeritus at Harvard Law School, who undertook the arduous task of second examiner with great speed and efficiency. Incidentally, he also introduced me to international law at Harvard and took an active interest in my career as an international lawyer.

In summer 2005, I was privileged to work alongside an extraordinary group of international civil servants in the Legal Department of the International Monetary Fund. In particular, I am deeply indebted to Thomas Laryea who provided constant and invaluable advice, and strongly encouraged me to explore many facets of ICSID arbitration on sovereign debt.

Thanks are due to my two anonymous reviewers of Cambridge University Press. Their many useful comments helped me improve the final product. Damien Eastman, Cynthia Lichtenstein, Darshini Manraj and Christoph Schreuer gave extensive feedback on earlier drafts. John Barker, Charles Blitzer, James Crawford, Ignacio Rodriguez, Guglielmo Verdirame and Jeromin Zettelmeyer pointed me in new directions.