ABSTRACT
The Negotiating Group's self-proclaimed goal was to draft a state-of-the-art treaty governing the flow of investments across national boundaries. However, the last version of their treaty appeared more a product of the state of the art in the 1970s than in the 1990s. As several critics from inside and outside the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) pointed out, there is no reason to accept the MAI's central premise, namely, that foreign investments exist in a hostile world and require extensive protection, but no commensurate obligations. The MAI proposed protecting investments beginning with their exploratory phases through their existence and finally at their conclusion, whether by voluntary movement to another location or by the actions of the host government. The MAI proposed to cover a vast array of economic actors and activities. It protected investors including citizens and permanent residents of the contracting parties as well as all forms of legal entities, whether profitmaking or charitable, private or governmental.
