Published by Kluwer Law International, the volume examines the forces reshaping commercial and investment arbitration across the Middle East and Africa.
Youssef + Partners is pleased to announce the publication of International Commercial and Investment Arbitration in the Middle East and Africa: The Arab Spring and Beyond, co-edited by our founder and Chairman, Dr. Karim A. Youssef, and Dr. Gordon Blanke, with a foreword by Jan Paulsson.
In its LinkedIn announcement, Wolters Kluwer describes the volume as a “definitive work on MENA arbitration”.
Arbitration in the Middle East and Africa
Bringing together more than thirty practitioners and scholars, the book examines how regional arbitration has evolved over the past fifteen years. It explores the emergence of new arbitral hubs, changes in judicial approaches, the development of arbitration institutions and the growing diversity of the profession. The Arab Spring provides a central reference point for understanding this evolution and its implications for arbitration’s future.
For businesses, investors and their advisers involved in cross-border projects and investments, these developments have practical consequences. Decisions about where to arbitrate, how to approach a dispute and what to expect at the enforcement stage require a close understanding of the relevant jurisdiction. We see particular value in scholarship that connects these decisions with the legal and institutional conditions in which they are made.
The volume comprises 23 chapters, organised into two parts: international commercial arbitration and investment arbitration. Its coverage spans major projects and oil and gas disputes, national court involvement, award enforcement, public policy, Sharia and UAE free zone arbitration. Investment chapters examine treaty protection, armed conflict, force majeure and the attribution of conduct to states, alongside perspectives from across Africa and country-focused analysis of Iraq. Dr. Youssef also contributes the opening chapter, “Arbitration Odyssey: 2011–2025 — The Arab Spring and the Arbitration Renaissance of the MENA Region”. It examines how legal reform, judicial support and institutional development have helped shape the region’s emergence as a centre for international arbitration.
This contribution continues Dr. Youssef’s longstanding engagement with the relationship between regional change and dispute resolution. His earlier scholarship includes a 2017 article examining the Arab Spring’s impact on international commercial and treaty arbitration in Egypt and the MENA region.
As the leader of our international arbitration practice, Dr. Youssef brings experience as counsel, arbitrator and legal expert in complex commercial and investment treaty disputes. His editorial work reflects the connection between practice and scholarship: experience informs the questions we ask, while rigorous analysis sharpens our understanding of the challenges facing clients.
For arbitration counsel, arbitrators, in-house legal teams, investors, public officials and researchers, the book provides a comparative reference on regional arbitration law and practice. Its breadth encourages readers to examine how commercial disputes, investment protection and institutional reform influence one another across distinct legal systems.
We congratulate both editors and all contributors, and thank Jan Paulsson for his foreword and the Wolters Kluwer team for bringing the volume to publication.
The book is available to order from Wolters Kluwer. Discover the book and order your copy.
