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geopolitics

The problem of preferential trade with larger partners
17-Mar-2008 Scoop
Chinese repression of Tibetan dissidents has pushed the issue of the impending Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand and the Peoples Republic of China back into the news. In a diplomatic sidestep both Helen Clark and John Key claim that events in Tibet have nothing to do with free trade. Perhaps that is true, but there are other issues to consider.
Free trade agreements and international investments
14-Mar-2008 Ecoportal
Developed countries see free trade agreements as forming part of a two-pronged strategy: to use international law to lay down market rules; and to give the appearance of legality to a system that allows States and their people to be exploited, robbed of their resources and wealth by excluding them from the international community and then legitimizing this exclusion
USTR Schwab: "Time is now" on Colombia trade pact
6-Mar-2008
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab told Congress on Thursday "the time is now" to approve a free trade agreement with Colombia, signaling a fight with lawmakers seeking stronger rights for workers.
Bush urges Congress to pass Colombia trade pact
4-Mar-2008
President George W. Bush urged U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday to put aside differences over a free trade agreement with Colombia and approve the pact to show support for a strong U.S. ally at the center of a crisis in Latin America.
The Mediterranean Union: Dividing the Middle East and North Africa
13-Feb-2008 Global Research
The Middle East and North Africa are in the process of being divided into spheres of influence between the European Union and the United States. Essentially the division of the Middle East and North Africa are between Franco-German and Anglo-American interests. There is a unified stance within NATO in regards to this re-division.
Joining the fold
20-Dec-2007 Al-Ahram
The US since 2000 espoused even closer links between its strategic interests and trade liberalisation. Europe is not far behind.
Demerits of the EU trade agreements
19-Dec-2007 AllAfrica.com
The EU used a variety of unsavoury negotiating tactics to get its interim agreements with East African countries to the signing stage.
Africa united against EU arrogance
19-Dec-2007 AllAfrica.com
The recent summit between African heads of states and the EU has shown that Europe has failed to move beyond their colonial-era past-times of economic and political bullying.
China outwits the EU in Africa
13-Dec-2007 Asia Times
During the past several years, an increasing number of differences have arisen in the strategic partnership forged between China and the European Union. Among the many critical issues clouding the mutual agenda are differing policy approaches towards Africa.
Israeli, Palestinian businessmen urge trade talks
12-Dec-2007 The Guardian
Key members of the Israeli and Palestinian private sectors recommended in a joint study that peace negotiators adopt a "Free Trade Agreement Plus" (FTA Plus) as the basis for economic relations between Israel and any future Palestinian state.
Bush wields Colombia trade deal to halt Venezuela
8-Dec-2007 AFP
Bush is now presenting the FTA to Congress as the main US policy tool to halt the influence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
Lessons from Morocco
16-Nov-2007 Middle East Times
Bilateral trade accords are driven by politics more than economics, and the US-Morocco free trade agreement, or FTA, is no exception.
Trade deal would be reward for Jordan’s moderate stance
14-Nov-2007 Embassy Magazine
Jordan’s Ambassador to Canada says free trade talks are a reward for his country’s moderation and peace efforts, but critics worry the government isn’t genuine in its trade relations.
Israel boycott office ’must be reopened’
5-Nov-2007 Gulfnews
A parliamentarian committee in Bahrain has called for the reopening of the Israel boycott office. Manama shut down the office in 2005 as part of the requirements by the US Congress before it ratified a free trade agreement with Bahrain
EU shuns discussion on NKorea enclave at trade talks
17-Oct-2007 EU Business
The European Union has shunned discussions on South Korea’s proposal to include a North Korean industrial park in their proposed free trade agreement (FTA), officials said. Meanwhile, European businesses have warned their leaders not to play politics with trade and exclude the park from any trade agreement with Seoul.
Envoy hints at free-trade deal for Israel’s 60th
24-Sep-2007 AJN
Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem has hinted that a free-trade agreement between Israel and Australia could be finalised in time for the Jewish State’s 60th anniversary next year.
Negroponte fears that Chávez would win if FTA fails at US Congress
19-Sep-2007 El Universal
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte warned Tuesday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez would win and Latin American democracies would lose if the US Congress does not pass the Free Trade Agreements with Peru, Panama and "especially with Colombia."
Free trade is a prison
19-Aug-2007 East African
As the world prepares to celebrate the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition on August 23, a new book on the lessons learnt from that trade and how its “successor,” free trade is undermining democracy and justice in Africa has just been published.
Vying for leadership, Lula heads north, Chávez south
10-Aug-2007 IPS
Political and economic alliances with a view to strengthening Latin American integration are subtly shifting with a growing distance between Chávez and Lula
Research institute recommends inter-Korean trade agreement
9-Aug-2007 Hankyoreh
A private think-tank claims that South and North Korea should work on signing a free trade pact to prompt changes in the communist country and eventually achieve consolidation of the two divided Koreas.