Agreements providing for the arbitral settlement of disputes arising out of contracts between foreign sovereigns and private contracting parties have become a permanent feature of transnational commerce.This particular favor for the arbitral, as opposed to the judicial, settlement of state contract disputes is attributable to a number of reasons, some of which are conventional and others the consequence of contemporary developments. Traditionally, arbitration has proved attractive because of the special expertise that it may provide and lack of publicity, which may increase the willingness of the losing party to comply with the award.