In Judicial Territory, Shaina Potts reveals how the American empire has benefited from the post-World War II expansion of United States judicial authority over the economic decisions of postcolonial governments. Introducing the term “judicial territory” to refer to the increasingly transnational space over which US courts wield authority, Potts argues that law is an essential tool for US geopolitical and economic interests. Through close examination of cases involving private US companies, on the one hand, and foreign state-owned enterprises, nationalizations, and sovereign debt, on the other, she shows that technical changes relating to the treatment of foreign sovereigns in domestic US law allowed the United States to extend its purview over global financial and economic relations, including many economic decisions of foreign governments. Throughout, Potts argues, US law has not become divorced from territoriality but instead actively remapped it; it has not merely responded to globalization, but actively produced it—making the whole world part of US economic space in the process.

"“Judicial Territory is a work of singular quality and originality. Shaina Potts presents a remarkably subtle and wide-ranging analysis of the United States’ long-term creep into both the international domain and the sovereign spaces of other countries. Potts brings legal analysis to life, with a fluent and incisive style, an eye for contradiction, irony, and drama, and a facility for navigating thickets of legalese in pursuit of compelling, telling, and revealing story lines. Judicial Territory is a tour de force.”" - Variegated Economies

"“At a moment when so many US citizens are increasingly skeptical of the Supreme Court, Shaina Potts tells a captivating and crucial story that contextualizes the present while pointing to its troubling implications. Placing readers at the center of the tight embrace between US courts and global capital, Potts shows how the US judiciary extends judicial territory for systemic and structural reasons relating to the dynamics of US geopolitical and economic power. She allows us to see that the relationship between US law and capital is not the result of a few ‘bad apple’ judges; it is actually fundamental to the whole enterprise.”" - Corporate Sovereignty: Law and Government under Capitalism