International Investment Policy

Foreign investment is a core pillar of the global economy. As governments around the world seek to attract foreign investment, however, they are increasingly faced with difficult choices on how to balance the rights and interests of foreign investors with other public policy objectives. This deep dive will look at how these choices are being struck and why it matters. After introducing the drivers and impacts of foreign investment, the course will focus on core challenges relating to market access – including investment screening – and the protection of foreign investment. Core treaty commitments will be introduced in the WTO, Free Trade Agreements, and Bilateral Investment Treaties. We will assess why and how these commitments are shaped, and reshaped, by policy-makers and the implications for foreign investors.

Lauge Poulsen

Lauge Poulsen is Professor of International Relations & Law at University College London. Poulsen is chair of the OECD inter-governmental work with stakeholders and experts on investment treaties, where he leads discussions on investment treaties and climate change policy. Poulsen was adviser to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2017 to 2020 and was appointed OBE (Officer of the British Empire) in the 2022 Queen’s New Year Honours List for services to UK trade policy. Before joining UCL, Poulsen was a postdoctoral fellow at Nuffield College, University of Oxford, and he has been a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution's Economic Studies Division and Melbourne Law School. Prof Poulsen is an editorial board member of several journals, including the Journal of International Economic Law.

Patrick Jones - Course author