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18 Tex. Int'l L. J. 547 (1983)
Applying an Amorphous Doctrine Wisely: The Viability of the Act of State Doctrine after the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act

handle is hein.journals/tilj18 and id is 555 raw text is: COMMENTS Applying an Amorphous Doctrine Wisely: The Viability of the Act of State Doctrine After the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act DAVID W. ZIMMERMAN* I. INTRODUCTION .............................................. 547 II. THE EVOLUTION OF THE SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY DOCTRINE.. 548 A. Acceptance of Absolute Sovereign Immunity .............. 548 B. Towards a More Restrictive Approach to Sovereign Immunity ............................................... 549 III. THE ACT OF STATE DOCTRINE-DIscoRD IN THE SUPREME COURT ...................................................... 551 IV. THE ACT OF STATE DOCTRINE IN THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURTS ..................................................... 558 V. INTERACTION BETWEEN THE FSIA AND THE ACT OF STATE D OCTRINE ................................................... 564 VI. CONCLUSION ................................................ 571 I. INTRODUCTION The uncertainties surrounding the act of state doctrine have spawned a wealth of scholarly and judicial writing. Yet commentators' and courts2 have been unable to agree on the exact scope of the doctrine, the policies underlying its application, or on the analytical approach best suited to guide courts in applying it. That it is an amorphous doctrine3 is both a great strength and a great weakness: a strength because the doctrine is readily adaptable to changing facts and circumstances, a weakness because * J.D. Candidate 1984, University of Texas. The author wishes to acknowledge with gratitude the valuable assistance of Professor Russell J. Weintraub, University of Texas School of Law. I. Compare R. LILLICH, THE PROTECTION OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT: Six PROCE- DURAL STUDIES 45-113 (1965) with R. FALK, THE ROLE OF DOMESTIC COURTS IN THE IN- TERNATIONAL LEGAL ORDER 64-138 (1964). 2. See infra text accompanying notes 81-111. 3. See infra note 81 and accompanying text.

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