Law360, New York ( March 2, 2016, 9:36 PM EST) -- When the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the "New York Convention") was enacted in 1958, the United States was not an original signatory. It was only in 1970 that the U.S. signed on to its terms. However, since then, the U.S. and its judiciary have been major proponents of international arbitration, and been instrumental in advancing the use of arbitration as the appropriate mechanism for parties to resolve their commercial disputes worldwide. Almost universally, the New York Convention has been recognized by most if not all multinationals involved in global commerce as one of the most successful commercial treaties in which the U.S. has become a party. To date, over 154 countries have signed on to the New York Convention. With the massive expansion of international trade in the last 50 years, the broad application of the New York Convention has been instrumental in harmonizing the law of various jurisdictions with regard to enforcement of arbitral awards....