With the rise of globalization, the contracts between private parties and foreign governments have inevitably increased cross-border legal disputes, making the FSIA a significant component of U.S. international dispute resolution practice. Foreign sovereign immunity issues are important to today's topical issues including the world-wide oil and natural gas industry, and the financial services industry.

The FSIA's provisions fall into six general categories that form the basis for this book's organization:

1. The statute's findings and declaration of purpose reflecting policymakers' intent to codify international foreign sovereign immunity law into domestic U.S. law and deny specified foreign sovereign defendants immunity from claims arising from dealings akin to private, as opposed to traditional governmental, activities;
2. Frameworks for who can sue and be sued under the statute, as well as for the statute's territorial scope; 
3. Guidelines for establishing foreign sovereign immunity and the exceptions thereto that allow for U.S. subject matter jurisdiction; 
4. A framework for determining the appropriate courts in which to bring a claim;
5. Guidelines for service of process and the establishment of personal jurisdiction; and
6. Guidelines for determining liability and damages and for enforcing judgments.