Judicial Territory

In <i>Judicial Territory</i> Shaina Potts reveals how the American empire has benefited from the post-World War II expansion of United States judicial authority over the economic decisions of postcolonial governments. Introducing the term judicial territory to refer to the increasingly transnational space over which US courts wield authority Potts argues that law is an essential tool for US geopolitical and economic interests. Through close examination of cases involving private US companies on the one hand and foreign state-owned enterprises nationalizations and sovereign debt on the other she shows that technical changes relating to the treatment of foreign sovereigns in domestic US law allowed the United States to extend its purview over global financial and economic relations including many economic decisions of foreign governments. Throughout Potts argues US law has not become divorced from territoriality but instead actively remapped it; it has not merely responded to globalization but actively produced it-making the whole world part of US economic space in the process.