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geopolitics


The geopolitics of the Eurasian Economic Union
The deal signed last week by Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan to create a Eurasian Economic Union is yet another countermeasure against US and European attempts to isolate Russia.
Afraid of free trade
Diplomacy in South Asia is given over to give-no-quarter bureaucrats, who cleave to a nationalism that continues to trump economics.
Pas d’accord commercial USA-Japon, mais un soutien réaffirmé
La visite de Barack Obama au Japon, qui s’achevait vendredi, n’a pas permis d’aboutir à la conclusion d’un accord commercial entre Washington et Tokyo mais a été marquée par la réaffirmation du soutien américain face aux ambitions chinoises.
Ukrainian leftist: ’The enemy is within – whether in Russia, Ukraine or the West’
What will happen next in Ukraine? The coordinated plundering of the country by both sides (the West and Russia), says Kolesnik Dmitry.
Russia FTA could be delayed - Key
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key says a free-trade agreement with Russia could be delayed because of the escalating situation between the superpower and Ukraine.
Interview: Dutch expert says TTIP might be game changer for geopolitics
Peter van Ham, senior research fellow at the Dutch Clingendael Institute, thinks that TTIP could have an overwhelming standard-setting power for other countries.
US drafts Ukraine sanctions, as EU mulls new talks
The US state department has been remodelled to fit the EU’s so-called Eastern Partnership policy on pulling former Soviet republics closer to the West amid Russia’s new assertiveness in the region
EU halts work on Ukraine trade deal
The European Union has suspended work on a trade and association agreement with Ukraine after failing to get a "clear commitment" from President Viktor Yanukovych to sign it.
Leaks confirm fears about Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement
In mid-November, Wikileaks released the secret draft text for the Intellectual Property Rights Chapter of the TPP. Stuart Trew talks about what this leak tells us about the agreement as a whole.
Turkey: Not making eyes at the Eurasian Union — for now
After 26 years of frustration over its start-and-stop bid to join the European Union, would Turkey ever consider joining a rival regional bloc led by the Kremlin? Few observers believe it likely, but it’s not completely out of the question.
Russia bans two Ukraine meat firms, as meat war threatens
In a bid to force Ukraine to abandon the signing of a free trade agreement with the EU, Russian veterinary service Rosselkhoznadzor has banned meat imports from two Ukrainian companies in the first step of a possible meat war that could seriously damage the Ukrainian industry.
Militarization and the Trans-Pacific “strategic economic” Partnership
The TPP has been mostly framed as a secret free-trade agreement but it has in large part taken the form of a policy initiative called the Pacific Pivot, a shifting of military resources into the Pacific.
EU warns Russia over trade ’threats’ to ex-Soviet bloc
The European Commission has warned Russia that it is "unacceptable" to use threats against ex-Soviet states which are seeking closer ties with the EU.
Signing of treaty on free trade zone between Ukraine, EU will create problems for Ukraine, Russia - Putin
"If Ukraine believes it needs to sign a treaty on free trade with the EU, it means that’s how it should be. However, we see some problems for us and them here," Putin said in an interview with Russia’s Channel One and the Associated Press.
Israel: A bitter harvest
The EU, Israel’s biggest trading partner, is preparing EU-wide guidelines for the labelling of goods made at settlements as originating from Israeli-occupied Palestinian land. The measure would affect $300m of Israeli exports, according to a World Bank estimate.
The challenges of the Pacific Alliance: Regional sovereignty in Latin America or a pampered periphery
Two projects of regional association are facing off in South America: the Pacific Alliance and UNASUR.
India becomes part of regional trading bloc despite Chinese opposition
India overcame resistance from China to become a part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, an Asean + 6 grouping which is set to emerge as one of the most significant free trading blocs in the world, government sources confirmed.
Will Asia’s largest FTA make a difference?
Unless there is enough political will to close potential loopholes disguised as “flexibility” and pursue reforms deeper than those ever before attempted, RCEP may be seen as serving the geopolitical interests of a few players, to little economic effect.
Despite promising start, Taiwan misses free trade deals
The island known for moving big batches of electronics to world markets is struggling to keep a toehold in Asia politically and economically against rivals that make the same stuff and have more trade deals, writes the business magazine Forbes
Joining TPP best answer for worries of further US encirclement
It is easy to perceive why China is highly apprehensive at the thought of Japan joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This move fits into a complex pattern that has fed China’s paranoia about being encircled.