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geopolitics

Lawmakers are using trade rules to blacklist critics of Israel
29-Jun-2015 Foreign Policy in Focus
Legislation to fast track new trade pacts specifically targets supporters of the BDS movement against the Israeli occupation.
US Congress passes anti-BDS legislation, key trade bill
25-Jun-2015 i24News
The so-called trade promotion authority bill passed by Congress requires US negotiators to make the rejection of the BDS campaign a principal trade objective in negotiations with the European Union.
Morocco: EU Court to give verdict ’in few months’ on Sahrawi appeal against EU-Morocco agricultural agreement
19-Jun-2015 Sahara Press Service
The European Union Court examined Tuesday the appeal of the Polisario Front against the agricultural agreement concluded in 2000 between the European Union and Morocco, and the decision on this issue will be given in a few months
US trade bills seek to halt boycotts of Israel
13-Jun-2015
Amendments to Obama’s sweeping trade package would fight BDS, but Democrats opposed to other sections are holding things up.
China-led lender adds urgency to Japan’s pursuit of pan-Pacific trade pact
26-May-2015 Reuters
"If the new Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank goes ahead and TPP fails .... perception-wise it will hurt in the leadership contest for the Asia-Pacific," a Japanese government source told Reuters.
GCC leaders to meet with President Obama
11-May-2015
Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council will be meeting with President Barack Obama this week at the White House and at Camp David. The six member nations of the GCC include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman.
The long arm of the EU: The Association Agreement and expansionist policies
27-Apr-2015 Counter Currents
The European Union is pursuing a targeted geostrategic goal aimed at extending its sphere of influence, the first priority being to control its immediate “neighbourhood” through association agreements.
TPP is a mistake
9-Apr-2015 Forbes
In many respects TPP appears essentially to be coming down to a US-Japan bilateral trade treaty that might complement the US-Japan security treaty, writes Jean-Pierre Lehmann.
US Defense Secretary urges approval of TPP
7-Apr-2015 VoA
US defense chief calls TPP one of the most important parts of the US re-balancing toward Asia-Pacific, including its military relationships.
The flaws in the geopolitical case for the TPP
25-Mar-2015 Financial Times
There is an intuitive appeal to the geopolitical use of trade agreements. But quickly scanning the two main bilateral trade deals the US has signed over the past decade in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia and South Korea, it is hard to see much strategic impact.
White House sees China as trump card in trade debate
27-Feb-2015 Reuters
The Obama administration is confident lawmakers will warm up to a proposed Pacific free trade deal on the grounds it is a chance for the United States, rather than China, to dictate the rules of Asian trade, a top official said on Thursday.
US, EU agriculture leaders try to ease trade concerns
23-Feb-2015 Farm Futures
US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack shared the stage with his counterpart EU commissioner Phil Hogan at the US Department of Agriculture’s annual Outlook Forum and discussed TTIP.
How EU-US trade deal could thwart “boycott Israel” campaign
20-Feb-2015 Electronic Intifada
Two members of the US Congress have introduced a bill that would turn a giant trade deal between the EU and US into a devastating weapon against the people of Palestine and all those seeking justice alongside them.
AIPAC behind new US/EU trade legislation designed to thwart BDS
12-Feb-2015 Mondoweiss
AIPAC is behind the draft US legislation that would make the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership being negotiated between the US and EU conditional on whether the EU takes action to stop BDS, according to US sources.
US bill seeks to tie massive trade pact to EU rejection of BDS
11-Feb-2015 Times of Israel
A new US Congressional bill, "The Israel Trade and Commercial Enhancement Act", seeks to make rejection of BDS a requirement for Washington to sign TTIP.
Japan, Mongolia ink trade pact that may increase car exports
10-Feb-2015 AP
Japan and Mongolia signed a free trade agreement Tuesday that is expected to open the landlocked frontier market to more Japanese auto exports and strengthen Tokyo’s leverage with a key partner in its dealings with North Korea.
Debt: Yesterday Latin America, today Europe
9-Jan-2015 Rebelión
Today’s crisis relates neither to trade nor the production of goods and services. It is the banks and the financial sector that are in crisis.
ISDS clause: a gateway to future trade deals
9-Dec-2014 EurActiv
Trade officials negotiating the ISDS arbitration clause within the EU-US trade agreement have half an eye on their next deals, since the wording is likely to shape other key trade treaties on the table.
Beijing, Washington locked in FTA race
6-Nov-2014 China Daily
There appears to be a race between the United States and China to dominate the rules-setting game for trade by being the first to announce plans of realising a Free Trade Agreement for the Asia-Pacific — with billions of dollars in trade at stake.
Departing from TTIP and going plurilateral
17-Oct-2014 Madariaga - College of Europe
European think-tank piece on how TTIP is designed to create a "transatlantic internal market" without the democracy.