The road to this book has been a long and winding one, having taken me through five different countries on two continents. Along this journey, I crossed paths with many people to whom I owe gratitude for helping me reach the desired destination and who have impacted me on either a personal or a professional level (or often on both).
First and foremost, I am forever indebted to my family members, who have provided immense support for my every personal and professional endeavour, and without whom I certainly would not be where I am today.
I also owe great thanks to my partner Bojana. Without you, this book perhaps could have been finished earlier – or, much more likely, may never have been finished at all. Maybe I could have done it without you, but I sure am glad I did not have to find out. I hope to be able to return the favour.
I am especially glad that I got to spend the best part of my PhD years that led to this book with amazing people at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, the University of Amsterdam and Columbia University. I am particularly grateful to my project-mates Katrine and Heather, my office-mate and Dutch ‘host’ Vincent, and my flatmate Sophie.
I am likewise indebted to Judge Stephen Schwebel for helping me locate a large amount of awards and related materials on the Greek arbitrations he had previously written on with Gillis Wetter, as well as to Lisa Sachs and George Bermann for sponsoring my stay at Columbia University, which proved to be highly inspiring. I also appreciate the effort of the wonderful staff who helped me during my many stays at the various archives that I visited while conducting the research for the book.
At the University of Novi Sad, I am thankful to Petar Đundić, Sanja Đajić and Maja Stanivuković, who were very influential in the early stages of my career and who nudged me along towards a career in international law and (investment) arbitration.
I owe much gratitude to Luke Eric Peterson and the team from IAReporter. Working with IAReporter has been a greatly rewarding experience and has played an important role in getting me to the finish line.
Of course, I am very grateful to the committee members for my PhD defence – Christoph Schreuer, Christian Tams, Catherine Brölmann, Yvonne Donders and Vid Prislan – for taking the time to read my work and provide the most insightful comments.
I would also like to acknowledge support by a European Council Starting Grant on ‘Transnational Private-Public Arbitration as Global Regulatory Governance: Charting and Codifying the Lex Mercatoria Publica’ (LexMercPub, Grant agreement no. 313355).
Lastly, but certainly not the least, I am immensely grateful to my supervisor, Stephan Schill. Thank you for your patience both before the start and towards the end of my PhD. You have set a great example with your dedication and relentless hard work, and your support during the various stages of this trying process was of course invaluable. I am grateful for the many professional opportunities that you have put in front of me and the doors that you have opened. The chance to work with you has certainly been a career highlight and a great learning experience.