Pulitzer Prize and Medal of Freedom awardee Will Durant once compiled his list of 'The Ten "Peaks" of Human Progress'. 1 In defining what is meant by the operative word 'progress', he said it was the 'domination of chaos by mind and purpose, of matter by form and will'. The list contains certain great moments, certain advances in human history which, once made, were never lost. Number five in his stages of human growth is 'Social Organization' which is described in part as follows:

Here are two men disputing; one says to the other 'Let us not fight - we may both be killed; let us take our differences to some elder of the tribe, and submit to his decision.' It was a crucial moment in human history! For if the answer was 'No' barbarism continued; if it was 'Yes' civilization planted another root in the memory of man: a replacement of chaos with order, of brutality with judgment, of violence with law. Now, without consciousness of it, we partake in a luxurious patrimony of social order built up for us by a hundred generations of trial and error, accumulated knowledge and transmitted wealth. 2

The noble institution which Robert Briner has so ably led into his ninth year as Chairman is itself a profound part of our shared social order, and he is now inextricably ensconced in its patrimony and its transmitted wealth.

The essence of this publication, as the distinguished Fali S. Nariman once expressed it, is about 'friendship' and we who write are privileged to contemplate a friend who is also one of the most distinguished and versatile lawyers of our own day.A respected jurist, a colonel in the Swiss army, a man of personal virtue, modest character, strong intellect and one who for years has enjoyed a global reputation as a soughtafter arbitrator gave abundantly to society, the law and the field of arbitration long before taking the helm of the ICC International Court of Arbitration as its Chairman in 1997. [Page841:]

Robert brought the abundance of experiences which he possessed to his new institutional leadership role. Yet, it is appropriate to suggest that, given the existence of multitudinous constituent groups within the arbitration forum, any one individual or group is exposed at most to a tiny snapshot of the range of competencies and demands implicit in the roles of such an institutional leader. A great arbitral institution's leader is many things including a consensus seeker, a persuader, an educator, a diplomat and a thought leader. He is the principal spokesperson who must be as articulate in law and substance as he is with process and rules. Institutions are complex entities both internally and in their external relationships. As organizations they have staff, boards and committees, technology, operations, facilities, budgets and fiscal controls. A leader must develop strategies for new business, be aware of competitive forces, protect the reputation of the institution, and the brand associated with its services. Additionally, the leader sets the standards for educational advancement, initiates amendments to rules, research, and oversight of panels of arbitrators and mediators. The position is also about the discernment of trends, user needs, and compatible interactions with the directions of national courts, nation States and private practitioners. Increasingly, institutional liability is a reality of the leader's daily concerns. He also works to preserve the institution's core values, its history, its predictability and continuity of practices reflectively developed over decades of party use and court testing. And, far from least in importance, the institutional leader constantly reinforces the sine qua non imperative of the role of ethics and integrity as the keystone of the arbitral arch-that wedge shaped piece that locks the other pieces in place.

In the sum of the enumerated demands as they have presented themselves at the ICC International Court of Arbitration, Robert Briner has not only stood with height and strength over the destiny of a revered institution, but in measurable ways has added to its luster. He has led and inspired expansions into technology usage by staff, arbitrators and parties, and he has laid the foundation for the growth of mediation within the court's constellation of service offerings. In addition to all that has been suggested, the sui generis nature of the role of the ICC Court also finds the Chairman presiding over a session of some thirty to fifty members once a month, with all the preparations attendant thereto, and has him presiding over a working committee of the Court which convenes every week. The Chairman also interacts with the institution's global network of national committees. [Page842:]

Beyond his own institution, Robert is engaged in contributing to the essence and spirit of the international arbitration movement both in its present raiments and in studying and analyzing its possible future directions. He has consistently advanced the work and deliberations of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), the International Federation of Commercial Arbitration Institutions (IFCAI), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), to mention only an illustrative list.

For nine years Robert has participated with vigor and creativity in the annual colloquium involving the American Arbitration Association, the International Chamber of Commerce and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. As the host in 2004 when the meeting was held in Paris, attendance was the highest in the twentyone years of its existence with over three hundred attendees-again, reflecting his leadership, guidance and commitment.

When the American Arbitration Association Board authorized funding for the creation of a freestanding international commercial arbitration research organization-now known as the Global Center for Dispute Resolution Research- Robert Briner was the first person I invited to join the founding board. He enthusiastically accepted and plunged with energy into its structure, research agenda, and research conferences. He gave this new entity the credibility of his good name, and his wisdom in its launch and nascent years.

In all that Robert has generously given to arbitration as a discipline, he has had the very real benefit of the gracious support and lovely presence of the intelligent, witty and charming Frances. She is not only an enormous asset for her 'Robin', but a regal gift as well to those who are favored by her unrivaled good company in business and social settings.

Today, the responsibility for overseeing a global conflict management body in a dynamic and sometimes unstable economic universe is not a 'sport for the shortwinded'. Indeed, in the words of the great prime minister Benjamin Disraeli, 'the secret to success is constancy to purpose'. 4 Robert Briner's invariable, constant focus is on the maintenance and elevation of high professional standards across the reach of the field in which we all daily till. His constancy to purpose and legendary stamina inure to our individual and shared growth. [Page843:]

The twentiethcentury philosopher Will Durant proclaimed that the real history of mankind is not in prices and wages, nor in elections and battles, nor in the even tenor of the common man, rather it is in the record of her exceptional men-especially those who 'stand on the edge of knowledge holding the light a little farther ahead'. 4 Robert Briner, the man and the institutional leader, extends that beacon of illumination ahead to the great benefit of us all. [Page844:]

1
In The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Times, compiled and edited by J. Little (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002) at 90-93.

2
Ibid. at 95, 96.

3
Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, at a speech to the National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations, London, 24 June 1872.

4
Supra note 1 at 6-7.