In his exceedingly thoughtful, thorough, and provocative work, Pedro J. Martinez-Fraga has drawn upon his many years as a very successful litigator and academic concentrating in international commercial dispute resolution including, but clearly not limited to, international commercial arbitration. Martinez-Fraga challenges others to see for the first time the contributions that doctrines developed in the United States, principally but not solely pretrial discovery, have had and will continue to have in the worldwide process of creating a comprehensive approach to international commercial arbitration.

The approach taken is historical, descriptive, analytical, critical, optimistic, perceptive, and, most important, realistic.

Martinez-Fraga begins with a comprehensive historical analysis clearly depicting the shift in attitude of the United States from antagonism toward commercial international arbitration to what one might call euphoric adulation. He outlines four specific factors that contributed to this change: (1) the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of “international contracts” as a normative basis for according special deference to international commercial arbitrations; (2) a perceived need for specialization akin to the creation of unique subject matter tribunals; (3) recognition that only international commercial arbitration can serve as the conceptual historical dispute resolution bridge until such time as international commercial tribunals come into existence; and (4) recognition that in an era of extensive economic globalization only international commercial arbitration today provides a methodology for dispute resolution that comports with the parties' expectations concerning the fair administration of justice as well as application of their respective judicial cultures.