The Foreign Sovreign Immunities Act: The Use of Pre-Judgment Attachment to Ensure Satisfaction of Anticipated Judgments

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 19761 (FSIA) was designed to balance the interests of private litigants with commercial or tortious claims2 against foreign states3 with the interests of the United States in minimizing friction with foreign nations.4 The tightrope that the drafters of the Act' walked is nowhere more apparent than in the area of attachment of foreign sovereign assets and execution of judg- ment.