Many thanks from me, too, Forbes!!
I've also racked my brains on it many times.
If the governing law has been already determined by the parties in the
contact, why do some still find it necessary to include that clause in
it? :/ By the way, if it's a matter of cautiousness, why only
the state's conflict of laws principles are excluded? What about the
international treaties, e.g. the Vienna Convention on contracts for
international sales of goods (1980) - as it's UN convention I assume
most countries are parties to it, or others? Hard to find the reasoning
for it......
greetings