International investment law is a complex and dynamic field. Yet, the implications of its history are under explored. Kate Miles examines the historical evolution of international investment law, assessing its origins in the commercial and political expansionism of dominant states during the seventeenth to early twentieth centuries and the continued resonance of those origins within modern foreign investment protection law. In particular, the exploration of the activities of the Dutch East India Company, Grotius' treatises, and pre-World War II international investment disputes provides insight into current controversies surrounding the interplay of public and private interests, the systemic design of investor-state arbitration, the substantive focus of principles, and the treatment of environmental issues within international investment law. In adopting such an approach, this book provides a fresh conceptual framework through which contemporary issues can be examined and creates new understandings of those controversies. "Kate Miles's monograph is one of the most important contemporary contributions to the field of investment law … Miles's assembly of a wide range of historical and doctrinal material is an interpretive and constitutive act intended to change the field and not merely reflect it." Michael Fakhri, Journal of International Economic Law "Miles's work provides a fascinating insight into both the historical origins of investment law and the road of reform that lies ahead … [her] work is remarkable." Cameron Miles, Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law "… the book makes a nice contribution to the literature …" European Journal of International Law "Miles’s book is an important and interesting contribution that deserves to be widely read." Jason Yackee, Law and History Review An examination of the origins of international investment law and their continued resonance in the twenty-first century. Kate Miles is a Fellow and College Lecturer in Law at Gonville and Caius, University of Cambridge. She currently serves on the International Law Association's New Study Group on the Role of Soft Law Instruments in International Investment Law. She is also a Research Fellow of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, Montreal, and co-ordinates the International Investment Law Network for the Society of International Economic Law.