International Arbitration Trends and Topics for 2026

Many topics captured the interest of the international arbitration community in 2025.

The implementation of sweeping tariffs by the new U.S. administration created unprecedented disruption in cross-border commerce and triggered a wave of trade-related disputes, while other political reform efforts – including shifts in energy and environmental policy under the Trump administration affecting wind energy development, natural resource extraction, fuel emission standards, and related supply chains – similarly create uncertainty and have the potential to foster new disputes. Environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) issues continued to gain prominence in international arbitration, with parties increasingly invoking sustainability commitments, climate-related obligations, and human rights standards in investment treaty and commercial disputes spanning the energy, infrastructure, and natural resources sectors. We expect that 2026 similarly will herald a number of interesting developments in international arbitration.

This article summarizes what are likely to be key trends and topics in international arbitrations in 2026, including: (1) the surge in commercial arbitrations driven by tariff-related disputes and other U.S. government policy changes, as parties grapple with questions of cost allocation, contract modification, and force majeure in an era of unprecedented trade uncertainty; (2) evolving trends in M&A and securities arbitration, including the implications of the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) policy shift permitting mandatory arbitration clauses in public company registration statements; (3) strategic considerations in selecting arbitral seats amid political and legal changes, particularly following Mexico’s judicial reform and the entry into force of England’s new Arbitration Act 2025; (4) the complex landscape of enforcing arbitral awards against sovereign states, including ongoing debates over sovereign immunity, assignability of awards, and public policy defenses based on fraud and corruption; and (5) the intersection of international arbitration with emerging technologies, including the deployment of AI systems in adjudicative roles and the enforceability challenges facing cryptocurrency-related disputes.

Read the full trend series.

These topics were republished as a series by Law360 (Topic 1; Topic 2; Topic 3; Topic 4; Topic 5).