Originally from American Review of International Arbitration - ARIA

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This is an essay about the perplexing relationship between state and federal law in the conduct of international arbitration. Since the passage in 1925 of the Federal Arbitration Act (the "FAA"), U.S. federal courts have managed to create out of this rudimentary and skeletal statute a highly-developed structure, which now seems to function above all to facilitate and support the arbitration process. (This has been particularly true since the "litigation explosion" and concerns about crowded dockets have begun to loom so large in the judicial consciousness.) As the embodiment of this benevolent federal policy towards arbitration, the FAA has over the years far surpassed in importance any state legislation dealing with the same subject.