“The US begins the millennium looking for all the world like a new Rome: only grander and more authoritative than the original,” stated Columbia University law professor Charles Sabel in his 1999 essay An Unlikely Democracy: the US at the Millennium. While his words were evidently designed to spark a heated debate, they also reflect a growing realisation across the world that the decisions emanating from Capitol Hill are likely to be felt far beyond the country’s borders.
As more companies roll out their operations on a global scale, they are increasingly likely to come under the jurisdiction of foreign regulators. And with the US retaining its position as the world’s leading recipient of overseas investment – receiving some $195bn in 2001 – those regulators are most likely to operate in Washington DC.
