--INVESTMENT GUARANTIES-: A Shield for Business Abroad

—INVESTMENT GUARANTIES-

THE Middle East crisis and its threat to U.S. interests gave urgent importance to a vital but little known—and less used—safeguard for American companies abroad. The safeguard: a program under which the U.S. Government insures overseas investment against the classic risks of expropriation, blocked profits and war.

Started by the Economic Cooperation Administration in 1948 to encourage more U.S. firms to invest abroad, the program resulted in agreements with 37 nations, including Jordan, Iran and Turkey. Pacts with Lebanon and Iraq were being negotiated when the shooting started. Since 1948, 220...

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