A foreign court renders a judgment, and one of the parties seeks to recognize or enforce the decision in the United States. Recognition involves giving res judicata effect to the foreign judgment or using it for collateral estoppel. Enforcement means providing a remedy, typically an award of damages, based on that judgment. In all these situations, the court that receives the foreign judgment must decide whether it qualifies for comity.

Citation
Paul B. Stephan, Unjust Legal Systems and the Enforcement of Foreign Judgments, in Foreign Court Judgments and the United States Legal System, Brill Nijhoff, 84–98 (2014).