This book provides a solid overview of trade and business opportunities in the Pacific Alliance, focusing on the key drivers of economic growth and development in Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico. It addresses the political, economic, and social benefits that accrue when commerce and markets are made freer, and implications this poses for American businesses. Further, it surveys how key economies of Latin America have learned from past failures and are poised to capitalize on them in the future. It will offer a detailed understanding for business scholars, practitioners, and entrepreneurs looking to explore new business ventures in dynamic trade union.

How multinationals contribute, or don't, to global prosperity.Globalization and multinational corporations have long seemed partners in the enterprise of economic growth: globalization-led prosperity was the goal, and giant corporations spanning the globe would help achieve it. In recent years, however, the notion that all economies, both developed and developing, can prosper from globalization has been called into question by political figures and has fueled a populist backlash around the world against globalization and the corporations that made it possible. In an effort to elevate the sometimes contentious public debate over the conduct and operation of multinational corporations, this edited volume examines key questions about their role, both in their home countries and in the rest of the world where they do business. Is their multinational nature an essential driver of their profits? Do U.S. and European multinationals contribute to home country employment? Do multinational firms exploit foreign workers? How do multinationals influence foreign policy? How will the rise of the digital economy and digital trade in services affect multinationals? In addressing these and similar questions, the book also examines the role that multinational corporations play in the outcomes that policymakers care about most: economic growth, jobs, inequality, and tax fairness.

Despite three decades of continuous globalization, transitional economies in many countries remain marginalized. In order to maximize the positive growth of employment creation opportunities in various sectors, including agriculture, existing patterns of long-run sustainable equilibrium relationships, technology transfers, and trade to promote export-led economic growth must be examined and identified. Regional Trade and Development Strategies in the Era of Globalization provides a comprehensive overview of globalization and regional initiative trends of trade and development through the examination of theoretical and practical experiences of their underpinning principles through approaches to overcome the obstacles of globalization and its positive and negative impacts on global trade and economic development. The content within this publication examines economic integration, foreign investment, and financial risk. It is designed for trade specialists, government officials, students, researchers, policymakers, business professionals, academicians, and economists.

In a time of persistent uncertainty, fragile eco-structures, the politics of "populism," and limits in institutional leadership, The Caribbean on the Edge acts as an analytical roadmap to a challenging era of globalization for the countries on the edge of history in the Caribbean, those often at a policy standstill pondering which way and how to turn. Winston Dookeran traces ideas that have evolved in development and diplomacy over the last decade to identify the path for new analytical leadership. The Caribbean on the Edge deeply engages the political issues involved in development, governance, and diplomacy. Examining various schools of thought that influence policy choices, The Caribbean on the Edge discusses new approaches and risk factors that are aligned with the current realities in the region. Above all, this book is about the development of a new mindset that will usher in a radical shift in thinking, policy, and practice in order to unlock the paralysis of a Caribbean on the edge.

This book addresses the role of domestic courts in the enforcement of international trade agreements by examining the experiences of Brazilian and the European Union courts. This comparative study analyzes the differences, similarities and consequences of Brazilian and European courts' decisions in relation to the WTO agreements, which have "direct effect" in Latin American emerging economies, but not in the European Union or other developed countries. It observes that domestic courts' enforcement of international trade agreements has had several unintended and counterproductive consequences, which were foreseeable in light of international scholarly debate on the direct effect of WTO agreements. It draws lessons from these jurisdictions' experiences and argues that the traditional academic literature that fosters domestic courts' enforcement of international law should be reconsidered in Latin America in relation to international trade agreements. This book defends the view that, as a result of their function and objectives together with the principles of popular sovereignty and democratic self-government, international trade agreements should not be considered to be self-executing or to have direct effect. This empirical work will be valuable to anyone interested in the effects of international trade rules at the domestic level and the role of domestic judges in international law.

Transnational corporations have used their market and political power in the U.S., the European Union and Japan to expand global production on terms that are highly favorable to corporate interests. Through a detailed history of the establishment of global value chains, Ronald W. Cox examines how corporations have internationalized production by working directly with political elites to establish terms of investment and trade that facilitate working class exploitation. He also examines the political implications of the growing gap between the global rich and the working class, including the increasing illegitimacy of corporate-backed governments in the United States and the European Union. The author concludes the book with suggestions for how the global working class can fight for their own interests in the context of the rising threats of far-right extremism and neo-fascist political movements.

This book provides a detailed study of practices of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (Shanghai FTZ henceforth). It aims to answer questions related to establishing the Shanghai FTZ and improving its practices, such as the future of world's macro-economy, the Shanghai FTZ's position in Chinese and world economy, government transition and international trade upgrading, as well as financial sector opening up strategies and innovations. By answering these questions, implications for possible future policy developments are provided. Though the operation of Shanghai FTZ is the main focus, this book delves deeper into the question of how China will further reform its financial system in the future. Similar to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which heralded China's economic transformation in the 1980s and 1990s, the Shanghai FTZ may well be such a pioneer project, pointing to the future economic path that China might tread. Written by the foremost Chinese economists - with some involved in the setup process of the Shanghai FTZ, this book is a must read for anyone who is interested in the prospects of the Shanghai FTZ and the future direction of the Chinese economic development.

The American Century began in 1941 and ended on January 20, 2017. While the United States remains a military giant and is still an economic powerhouse, it no longer dominates the world economy or geopolitics as it once did. The current turn toward nationalism and "America first" unilateralism in foreign policy will not make America great. Instead, it represents the abdication of our responsibilities in the face of severe environmental threats, political upheaval, mass migration, and other global challenges. In this incisive and forceful book, Jeffrey D. Sachs provides the blueprint for a new foreign policy that embraces global cooperation, international law, and aspirations for worldwide prosperity-not nationalism and gauzy dreams of past glory. He argues that America's approach to the world must shift from military might and wars of choice to a commitment to shared objectives of sustainable development. Our pursuit of primacy has embroiled us in unwise and unwinnable wars, and it is time to shift from making war to making peace and time to embrace the opportunities that international cooperation offers. A New Foreign Policy explores both the danger of the "America first" mindset and the possibilities for a new way forward, proposing timely and achievable plans to foster global economic growth, reconfigure the United Nations for the twenty-first century, and build a multipolar world that is prosperous, peaceful, fair, and resilient.

The Polar North is known to be home to large gas and oil reserves and its position holds significant trading and military advantages, yet the maritime boundaries of the region remain ill-defined. In the twenty-first century the Arctic is undergoing profound change. As the sea ice melts, a result of accelerating climate change, global governance has become vital. In this first of three volumes, the latest research and analysis from the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, the world's leading Arctic research body, is brought together. Arctic Governance: Law and Politics investigates the legal and political order of the Polar North, focusing on governance structures and the Law of the Sea. Are the current mechanisms at work effective? Are the Arctic states' interests really clashing, or is the atmosphere of a more cooperative nature? Skilfully delineating policy in the region and analysing the consequences of treaty agreements, Arctic Governance's uncovering of a rather orderly 'Arctic race' will become an indispensable contribution to contemporary International Relations concerning the Polar North.

Over the last few decades there has been growing recognition of the importance of a peaceful and stable South China Sea for Indo-Pacific security and development, a recognition that has been underlain, paradoxically, by the increasingly precarious situation in this body of water that straddles critical shipping lanes from the Indian to the Pacific Ocean. This book informs its readership of the most recent developments in the South China Sea with insightful and prescient analyses from both legal and international relations perspectives. It delves into the policy perspectives and deliberations of the various relevant regional and extra-regional actors in the South China Sea dispute, the exercise of international law in the context of the changing regional political landscape, and the promise and pitfalls of past, current, and potential initiatives to manage and settle the dispute. Written by some of the most well-known scholars and knowledgeable insiders in the fields South China Sea studies, the collection offers a wide array of diverse views that should help enrich the ongoing global discussion on conflict management and resolution in the South China Sea.

Over the last few decades there has been growing recognition of the importance of a peaceful and stable South China Sea for Indo-Pacific security and development, a recognition that has been underlain, paradoxically, by the increasingly precarious situation in this body of water that straddles critical shipping lanes from the Indian to the Pacific Ocean. This book informs its readership of the most recent developments in the South China Sea with insightful and prescient analyses from both legal and international relations perspectives. It delves into the policy perspectives and deliberations of the various relevant regional and extra-regional actors in the South China Sea dispute, the exercise of international law in the context of the changing regional political landscape, and the promise and pitfalls of past, current, and potential initiatives to manage and settle the dispute. Written by some of the most well-known scholars and knowledgeable insiders in the fields South China Sea studies, the collection offers a wide array of diverse views that should help enrich the ongoing global discussion on conflict management and resolution in the South China Sea.

This book examines Sino-Middle Eastern relations on a bilateral level since World War II. It highlights the depth of China's involvement in the region with each country on a five dimensional approach: energy security, trade relations, political relations, arms sales/security cooperation, and cultural relations. Regarding each of these criteria, the Middle East holds a strategic significance to China's national security, vital interests, territorial integrity, sovereignty, regime survival, and economic prosperity. China has been an integral part of the political developments on the Middle Eastern political scene. It has supported the region's quest for independence and national liberation, exchanged diplomatic recognition with the region and established political partnerships with the Middle East. Trade relations are an essential element of China's involvement in the Middle East. Their bilateral trade volume exceeds $220 billion annually, and is steadily heading toward $500 billion by the end of 2015. The Middle East supplies fifty-four percent of China's energy needs, and is expected to provide seventy percent of China's imports by 2020. Energy security has become the core of Sino-Middle Eastern relations and the main goal of its increasing involvement in the region. China has also become a main source of arms sales to the region. The Middle East influenced Chinese culture and language immensely, simultaneously, influenced by Chinese culture, traditions and customs. Apparently, the peoples of the Middle East are enthusiastic about China's role in the region. However, the American so called "pivoting out" and China's imminent "pivoting in" brings tremendous levels of anxiety in the region. A similar situation occurred a century ago, when the people of the region, the social and political movements in the Middle East, and the governments of the region, solicited and welcomed the American involvement in the region, something they deeply resent and regret. China seems to be going through the same path, and the people of the region have begun to scrutinize its presence. If Beijing continues its inconsistent policy in the region, its injudicious support to autocracies, it will defiantly mobilize popular resentment against its involvement in the Middle East. Therefore, its presence might not endure in comparison to the American, British, or French presence in the Middle East.

Hardbound. After years of debate and a turbulent passage through Congress, The North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect on 1st January 1994. The agreement heralds a new era in North America's economic and political behavior and will dominate the international economic arena of the western hemisphere in the coming decades.In order to understand the implications and challenges of NAFTA on both a domestic and international level, this book examines the corporate, managerial and financial consequences for the participating countries (United States, Canada and Mexico), as well as the wider impact of economic regionalism in the new world order, especially in relation to the European Union.An overview of the agreement itself is followed by analysis from an external perspective and an examination of intra-regional issues.

Exploring the contentious relationship between trade and labour, this book looks at the impact of the EU's 'new generation' free trade agreements on workers. Drawing upon extensive original research, including over 200 interviews with key actors across the EU and its trading partners, it considers the effectiveness of the trade-labour linkage in an era of global value chains. The EU believes trade can work for all, claiming that labour provisions in its free trade agreements ensure that economic growth and high labour standards go hand-in-hand. Yet whether these actually make a difference to workers is strongly contested. This book explains why labour provisions have been profoundly limited in the EU's agreements with the CARIFORUM group, South Korea and Moldova. It also shows how the provisions were mismatched with the most pressing workplace concerns in the key export industries of sugar, automobiles and clothing, and how these concerns were exacerbated by the agreements' commercial provisions. This pioneering approach to studying the trade-labour linkage provides insights into key debates on the role of civil society in trade governance, the relationship between public and private labour regulation, and the progressive possibilities for trade policy in the twenty-first century. This book will appeal to research scholars, post-graduate students, trade policy practitioners, policy researchers allied to labour movements, and informed activists.

Power inequalities and mistrust have characterized many interstate relationships. Yet most international relations theories do not take into account power and mistrust when explaining cooperation. While some scholars argue that power relations inhibit cooperation between states, other scholars expect interstate cooperation regardless of the power relations and level of trust. Strategic Cooperation: Overcoming the Barriers of Global Anarchy argues that although states benefit from cooperation, they are also wary of the power relations between states, making cooperation difficult. Successful and cooperative bilateral relationships are formed between strong and weak states that are power asymmetric and have mistrust of one another, but they are built in such as way as to overcome the problem of power asymmetry and mistrust. This book answers how and why states that are in power asymmetry and have mistrust of one another are able to build a cooperative bilateral relationship. It argues that states forge a relationship due to strategic needs such as economic or security needs. Slobodchikoff has developed a database composed of the whole population of bilateral treaties between Russia and each of the former Soviet republics, and examines all of these bilateral relationships. He finds that Russia indeed forged relationships with the former republics based on its strategic interests. However, despite Russia's strategic interests, it had to build a bilateral relationship that would address the issues of mistrust and power asymmetry between the states. To achieve this, Russia and the former Soviet republics created treaty networks, which served to legitimize as well as legalize the independent status of each of the former republics while also increasing the cost to Russia of violating any of the treaties. This book argues that strong treaty networks account for a more cooperative relationship between states, allowing both states to cooperate by alleviating the problems of mistrust and power asymmetry.

This volume contains a collection of studies examining trade-related issues negotiated in regional trade agreements (RTAs) and how RTAs are related to the WTO's rules. While previous work has focused on subsets of RTAs, these studies are based on what is probably the largest dataset used to date, and highlight key issues that have been negotiated in all RTAs notified to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). New rules within RTAs are compared to rules agreed upon by WTO members. The extent of their divergences and the potential implications for parties to RTAs, as well as for WTO members that are not parties to RTAs, are examined. This volume makes an important contribution to the current debate on the role of the WTO in regulating international trade and how WTO rules relate to new rules being developed by RTAs.

To access the additional resources mentioned in this book, Click Here. Regional trade agreements (RTAs) are not new, but their importance in global economics and politics has grown exponentially in the past two decades. At the same time, RTAs have become increasingly controversial as their number, scope, and cross-cutting memberships become so complex that many fear they will undermine the World Trade Organization's multilateral trading system. Ranging from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to the European Union to the North American Free Trade Agreement, RTAs have equally wide-ranging purposes, from improving market access to increasing clout in international negotiations. Tackling this complexity and confusion head on, this book provides a much-needed guide to RTAs. Setting current regional agreements in their economic, political, and historical context, David A. Lynch describes and compares virtually every significant RTA, region by region. He clearly explains their intricate inner workings, their webs of collaboration and conflict, and their primary goals and effectiveness. Lynch's deeply knowledgeable study bridges the ideological divides in scholarly and public debate, including economists' emphases on markets and efficiency versus antiglobalization activists' concerns over inequality and social ills. By building a middle ground between micro and macro analysis and clarifying technical terminology, this concise and accessible book will be an invaluable reference for all nonspecialists.

With the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations moribund, it is time to reconsider the future of trade negotiations as an impetus for reform. Services trade is a leading-edge behind-the-border issue, so a services perspective offers critical insights into the future of trade negotiations more generally. This book traces the author's thinking on how to make sense of services trade reform, drawing on her analytical, empirical and policy-related work on services issues from both academic and government perspectives. It covers policy reform, policy forums, and what it takes politically to achieve reform, and offers critical new insights into the future of trade negotiations.The book shows policy makers how to approach the economics and politics of services trade reform domestically, consistent with relevant special features of services trade. It shows analysts the full policy implications of those special features, including what they mean and how services reform should be treated in the future in national and international forums. In covering such broad territory, the book draws together published material that previously has been scattered across place and time, including modelling that establishes empirically the special features of services that are relevant.

This book examines Sino-Middle Eastern relations on a bilateral level since World War II. It highlights the depth of China's involvement in the region with each country on a five dimensional approach: energy security, trade relations, political relations, arms sales/security cooperation, and cultural relations. Regarding each of these criteria, the Middle East holds a strategic significance to China's national security, vital interests, territorial integrity, sovereignty, regime survival, and economic prosperity. China has been an integral part of the political developments on the Middle Eastern political scene. It has supported the region's quest for independence and national liberation, exchanged diplomatic recognition with the region and established political partnerships with the Middle East. Trade relations are an essential element of China's involvement in the Middle East. Their bilateral trade volume exceeds $220 billion annually, and is steadily heading toward $500 billion by the end of 2015. The Middle East supplies fifty-four percent of China's energy needs, and is expected to provide seventy percent of China's imports by 2020. Energy security has become the core of Sino-Middle Eastern relations and the main goal of its increasing involvement in the region. China has also become a main source of arms sales to the region. The Middle East influenced Chinese culture and language immensely, simultaneously, influenced by Chinese culture, traditions and customs. Apparently, the peoples of the Middle East are enthusiastic about China's role in the region. However, the American so called "pivoting out" and China's imminent "pivoting in" brings tremendous levels of anxiety in the region. A similar situation occurred a century ago, when the people of the region, the social and political movements in the Middle East, and the governments of the region, solicited and welcomed the American involvement in the region, something they deeply resent and regret. China seems to be going through the same path, and the people of the region have begun to scrutinize its presence. If Beijing continues its inconsistent policy in the region, its injudicious support to autocracies, it will defiantly mobilize popular resentment against its involvement in the Middle East. Therefore, its presence might not endure in comparison to the American, British, or French presence in the Middle East.

This is a story about governance in Mexico after the labor and environmental accords--called "side agreements"--that accompanied the NAFTA treaty went into effect. These side agreements required member states to uphold and enforce their labor and environmental laws; though never codified, it was widely accepted that Mexico, in particular, had a problem with law enforcement.
"Side Effects" explores how differences in institutional design (of the side agreements) and domestic capacity (between the labor and environment sectors) influenced norm socialization in Mexico. It argues that the acceptance of rule-of-law norms in environmental governance can be attributed to participating institutions' independence from national control, their willingness to give citizens access, and the professionalization and technical capacity of domestic bureaucrats and civil society actors. Changes in labor governance have been hampered by union confederations, longstanding corruption, and a closed opportunity structure. Going beyond a simple accounting exercise of resources devoted to enforcing the law, this book comes to grips with how best to strengthen local capacity and promote pro-norm behavior--advances essential to the task of development and democratization.

On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the multilateral trading system (GATT/WTO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) organized a symposium to discuss and analyze the current and future role of the world trading system. The rapid developments in the 1990s - not only political, but also economic and technological changes - have brought the WTO to a turning point in its existence. The new challenge, as the Director General stated in his opening remarks at the symposium, is not just to advance free trade against the forces of protectionism. The WTO's future agenda should also look at how investment and competition laws affect market access; whether differing labour or environmental standards confer a trade advantage and how this should be dealt with; whether taxation and innovation policies constitute a subsidy; whether governments should be allowed to regulate content on the Internet. These and other issues are a world away from "traditional" trade concerns such as tariffs or quotas, and yet all are included, in one form or another, on the new trade agenda. In this topical collection of essays, academics in international trade take a fresh look at the future of the global trading system and give an analysis of the new trade agenda.

From cooperation to a new cold war: is this the future for today's two great powers?. U.S. policy toward China is at an inflection point. For more than a generation, since the 1970s, a near-consensus view in the United States supported engagement with China, with the aim of integrating China into the U.S.-led international order. By the latter part of the 2010s, that consensus had collapsed as a much more powerful and increasingly assertive China was seen as a strategic rival to theUnited States. How the two countries tackle issues affecting the most important bilateral relationship in the world will significantly shape overall international relations for years to come.In this timely book, leading scholars of U.S.-China relations and China's foreign policy address recent changes in American assessments of China's capabilities and intentions and consider potential risks to international security, the significance of a shifting international distribution of power, problems of misperception, and the risk of conflicts. China's military modernization, its advancing technology, and its Belt and Road Initiative, as well as regional concerns, such as the South China Sea disputes, relations with Japan, and tensions on the Korean Peninsula, receive special focus.

The central point of this book concerns three main issues: the problems of WTO retaliation, the question of the effectiveness of retaliation, and the purposes of retaliation. WTO retaliation is often deemed ineffective due to its inherited shortcomings. This book highlights the significance in identifying the purposes of retaliation prior to evaluating its effectiveness. Put differently, it refers to the purpose-based approach of effectiveness. It is a common understanding that the purpose of WTO retaliation is to induce compliance. This book, nevertheless, argues in favour of coexistence of the multiple purposes of retaliation, including reaching a mutually agreeable solution. These views are based on the extensive research conducted on the purposes of WTO retaliation, namely through interpreting Article 22 of the DSU; examining the remedies rules within the frameworks of public international law, and law and economics; and assessing the academic writings/debates as well as the statements of arbitrators. Finally, by evaluating a number of disputes involving WTO retaliation, this book demonstrates the reasonableness and soundness of WTO retaliation in light of its multiple purposes.

The negotiation of the Free Trade Area between the US and Israel was, at the time, a remarkable political accomplishment, and is a useful case study because it includes all of the industrial and agricultural sectors, thus spanning the full spectrum of issues that would be dealt with in negotiations. In addition, it has the advantage of involving just two countries and lasting only fifteen months from start to finish, facilitating a comprehensive analysis. This book, first published in 1990, provides a valuable analysis of this vital case study of an FTA from commencement to completion.

This study challenges the dominant tendency of civil society to negate international trade as such. The authors argue that it is necessary to frame differentiated trade rules based on levels of economic development, and also to shift from subsidies to shore up uncompetitive livelihoods to productivity-enhancing investments.Most importantly, the boo