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Joshua Clapp: Tomorrow marks the second US presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The debate, in a town meeting format, will include not only domestic policy but also foreign policy. How do the two candidates approach the outside world? Here is a look at five main foreign policy issues.
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Franco Pedroni: Germany, like its European partners, is supposed to stand for human rights, freedom, and dignity. But in its trade relationships with a Chinese system that exploits its people and uses them to profit on the world market, it caves to economic pressures and betrays its values.
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Editorial Team: Delegations from the US, Russia, China, and other global players will meet with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at joint ASEAN-East Asia summits beginning November 17. Neither the EU nor any member states will be there. Now, as America refocuses its attention on the Pacific, we take a look at how the EU must face its transatlantic and Asian partnerships in the “Pacific Century.”
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Judy Dempsey: Europe’s efforts to exert influence on the world through soft power has proven ineffective. To restore Europe’s credibility in the world, Europe must open itself up to trade and immigration, provide more aid to civil society groups in the greater European neighborhood and be more vocal against dictatorial regimes.
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Memo 34: Europe’s defense sector needs reform. To cut costs and improve capabilities, states should consolidate national priorities to enhance political cooperation, streamline their administrative structures, further integrate their militaries and create an open defense market across the EU.
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Alexandra Dobra: The world’s eight biggest oil exporters are ripe for a terrorist attack. Any disruption of the energy supply chain could devastate the world economy, so a new set of policies combining hard power (to secure energy) and soft power (to dismantle terrorist networks) must now be implemented.
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Editorial Team: A meeting at the German Foreign Office brought together the heads of its 228 foreign bureaus and leading members of the German business community. The reunion highlighted the central importance of exports for Germany’s economic health and foreign policy posture. As a resource poor country, Germany must rely heavily on the strength of its export sector to remain competitive internationally. Indeed, in spite of the financial crisis, German firms have performed astonishingly well: With the annual GDP growth rate expected to reach 3.5 percent, Germany’s economic strength remains the motor behind Europe’s political salience on the world stage. It is also crucial to Germany’s continued attractiveness as a reliable partner for U.S. policies.
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Daniel Fiott: The West is troubled by Chinese business activities on the African continent, perceiving Chinese firms as satellites of the central state.This paper uses the case study of Kenya to compare the economic and developmental activities of the EU and China in order to address some common misperceptions.
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Rudi Guraziu: The EU ought to play a greater role in global governance. But in order to achieve that it needs to devise functional institutions for global governance – in effect getting everyone ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’
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Judith Richards: China’s grand strategy aims to enhance its trade and investment interests. Its rhetoric on peaceful attitudes is nothing more than a means to an end.
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Jordan Levine: As populations increase and resources become scarcer, international relations stand to deteriorate. World leaders must combine global trade liberalization with data on the relationship between ecosystem function and human well-being. Mandatory life-cycle assessments are the best way of doing this.
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W. Hertel & F. Schöning: The EU is about to adopt a new framework for the defense industry that may hurt the chances of US companies to conduct business in Europe. This new protectionism on both sides of the pond will invariably hurt the EU and US.
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David Neil Lebhar: While the race between Obama and McCain is too close to call, US voters and the world must realize that the two candidates’ foreign policy positions are not especially different. Furthermore, due to economic instability, domestic concerns, and a shifting geo-political balance, the next president will have to react to international issues through re-defined multilateralism.
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C. Deblock & M. Rioux: Canadians want to develop closer economic ties with Europe in order to reduce their dependence on the United States. However this new “European” policy is motivated by the wrong reasons and political and structural differences could prove insurmountable.
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Susan Aaronson: Much more than a marriage of convenience, America and other industrialized nations, should examine their trade policies to see how it might encourage and ultimately form a coherent union with human rights abroad.
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Global Must Read Articles
Merkel has taken bold initiatives at home and overseas. ++ At home, she opposed Greek’s exit from the eurozone, thereby preserving the unity of the union. ++ Abroad, she represented not only Germany, but the EU in her visit to China where she signified the need for the Chinese government to utilize its markets and funds to purchase German and European bonds. ++ Merkel will now have to seek
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Europe and the US remain each other’s most important markets despite the recession. The transatlantic economy generates close to $5 trillion in total commercial sales a year and employs up to 15 million workers in mutually “onshored” jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. The transatlantic economy is the largest and wealthiest market in the world: over 50% of world GDP in terms of
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Karel De Gucht is the present European Commissioner for Trade and co-chairs the Transatlantic Economic Council. Up to February 2010, he served as European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid. He is a former Belgian Deputy Prime Minister (2008-2009) and Foreign Minister (2004-2009).
1. What are the current priorities in your work as the chair of the Transatlantic Economic
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China’s ongoing process of găigé kāifàng (reform and opening up to the West) and the process of European integration are both paving way for a more economically fruitful future. ++ In an effort to overcome the Euro-crisis, China nearly doubled its direct investment in Europe. ++ Today, goods valued at $1.5bn are exchanged daily between both parties. ++ As European
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MP John Hayes recently mentioned “resisting” Chinese influence in the South Pacific in a now leaked email. ++ China will deploy forces within the South Pacific as it is now a major corridor between South American and Australasian resource suppliers. ++ The strengthening of trilateral security ties between the US, NZ and Australia is designed to act as a regional counter-balance. ++ Increasingly
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The emergence of China as a global power has fundamentally changed the geo-political landscape of Southeast Asia. China, US and Japan are making significant efforts to cooperate and work in tandem with ASEAN to “maintain peace, stability and prosperity in the region”. As this report by the Institue for Security and Development illustrates, Southeast Asia represents, in many ways, a battleground
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As China continues its meteoric rise and challenges US economic supremacy, both China’s growth and America’s shaky position tend to be overstated. ++ China’s massive infrastructure investments lack transparency and predictability, and could cause its economy to overheat and eventually collapse. ++ Any significant downturn would challenge the legitimacy of the longstanding Communist party
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Professor Siegfried Fina is the Co-Director of the Stanford-Vienna Transatlantic Technology Law Forum. He focuses on the business-related and technology-related law and policy of the European Union, as well as on the legal aspects of the EU-US trade and the economic governance of the transatlantic marketplace.
1. What are the current priorities in your work as Co-Director of the Stanford-Vienna
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British PM David Cameron is leading one of the biggest ever trade delegations to China. ++ China has been slow in opening up its economy to the rest of the world lest it fall into the capitalist trap. ++ Mr. Cameron’s visit provides the West an opportunity to extend reassurances to Bejing that theWest needs it to succeed and that free institutions will guarantee China’s prosperity as
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China is America’s most important economic partner, but this relationship is dysfunctional and one-sided. ++ China has shown no progress in enforcing intellectual property rights in the software industry. ++ For every five applications running on PCs in China, four have been stolen. ++ This tolerated theft gives Chinese businesses an unfair advantage over their American counterparts. ++ “The
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Since assuming power, the AK Party in Turkey has shifted foreign policy eastward. ++ Turkey should continue to strengthen ties with Asia politically, economically, and culturally. ++ This policy shift can be seen through Turkey’s increased trade with Asian countries and greater presence in Asian international organizations such as ASEAN and CICA. ++ “Turkey feels the need to pursue a
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China’s merciless economic strategy exacerbates the global economic downturn and international tension. ++ This process of manipulating the currency markets and drowning the world with Chinese exports makes global economies defenceless. ++ Their “beggar-thy-neighbour” policy weakens nations´ fiscal efforts to recover from the crisis.++ We are on the brink of an open trade
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The Obama Administration must get rid of a “cold war fossil” - the Jackson-Vanik amendment - which makes normal trade relations with Russia contingent on free emigration. ++ Russia has allowed such freedom for years, but the law remains
in force despite attempts by former Presidents Clinton and Bush to get rid of it. ++ Obama will struggle to remove it too. ++ Congress retains it as leverage for
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The US and China need to seize the opportunity to be more open and cooperate to deal with the slump in trade between the two nations. ++ “Regrettably… trade measures by the US against China are on the rise.” ++ US pleas for the WTO to investigate imports of Chinese products will seriously test relations, but the need to foster positive ties has never been greater. ++ The two countries should
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The US’ response to Burma’s suffering under a military junta has been strict economic sanctions. ++ The limited effectiveness of this policy led the US to consider an alternative which will deliver practical benefits to the Burmese people, but this is also met with skepticism. ++ Increased trade will be exploited to benefit the military regime and do little for the people. ++
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Whether or not the current economic situation is a depression depends on one’s definition of the term. ++ What is certain is that global trade and growth have been in freefall for the last couple of months. ++ The expected reaction from world leaders was coordination but this never materialized; instead “policymakers have wasted almost five months during which most of the debate has been
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Barack Obama’s approach towards China is unlikely to be confrontational in view of the current global situation. ++ The US has plenty of conflict to deal with elsewhere and needs Chinese cooperation in dealing with North Korea. ++ However, the increasing trade imbalance between the two countries is volatile. ++ It should be dealt with by lifting trade restrictions on Chinese goods. ++
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Meeting in Singapore, 10 southeast Asian nations along with India confirmed yet another FTA that clearly indicates the waning influence of the WTO and the US in the region. ++ Many such countries, especially India, prefer small-scale bilateral agreements and FTAs. ++ It was the Asian block that called on Europe and the US to change their farm subsidy policies at Doha, which contributed to
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Financial aid will not solve the problem of food security in Africa. ++ Western succor is the main source of revenue for corrupt sub-Saharan African governments. ++ An effective way to help the Africans is to remove the trade barriers that cripple the development of their economy. ++ World Bank figures reveal that removing taxes and tariffs on agricultural goods and fertilizers would bring Africa
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On the surface, the strategic Sino-Russian relationship seems at an apex. ++ In reality, however, relations between the two leading Eurasian powers are being weakened by a stalemate in military sales, disputes over energy prices, and a general decline in trade due to Russia’s wavering manufacturing capacity. ++ China’s trade with Russia in 2007 accounted for 2 percent of China’s global trade
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Since the first use of sanctions against Italy in 1935, suspending trade with corrupt regimes has proven to make the poor poorer and the evil richer. ++ Even with supposed success, sanctions were either accompanied by other internal problems (South Africa) or imposed upon a cooperative government (England). ++ In contrast, sanctions against regimes such as Mugabe’s are only levied to boost
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The Western coupling of China and India as rising powers overlooks drastic differences between the two countries. ++ China began liberalization first, and its growth has put it “in a totally different economic league from India.” ++ Yet despite pro-Tibetan protests in India and border disputes, the two countries would do well to work together. ++ India excels in the software sector, while China’s
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The Indian Ocean will be a strategic bridgehead for the big players of the 21st century. This relates to the Indian sea doctrine, which has been determining India’s policies in the region since its release in 2004. China’s advance in particular is pushing the Indian government to strengthen its ties with the African countries on the coast of the Indian Ocean and to regain more influence in the
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The US market is experiencing the unprecedented inflow of large- and medium-size European investors. ++ Because of the extremely cheap US dollar, it became affordable for many European companies to relocate their production to the much more attractive American market. ++ While there is nothing that can stop this trans-Atlantic shift, it will have an enormous impact on the structure of the
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In the face of turmoil in Tibet, India has found itself in a delicate position. ++ As a democracy, India has a tradition of permitting peaceful protest, yet it is also intent on improving Indo-Sino relations and continuing to expand trade with China. ++ “India’s government has attempted to draw a distinction between its humanitarian obligations as an asylum country and its political
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Restrictions on food exports worldwide are causing destabilizing
shortages in some of the world’s most populace nations. ++ Suggestions for increased productivity include: liberalization of agricultural trade; a boost in production by liberalizing domestic markets; and a reexamination of policies to limit population growth. ++ As resource strains increase, fixing policies should be the
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Thanks to its massive
workforce and low labor costs, China
has become the twenty first century’s leading global production plant. Even for
German companies, China
has long been a fundamental market for supplies. Yet an inquiry released by
PricewaterhouseCoopers reveals some astonishing facts: for many businesses, China is not as
cheap as one may think. Indeed, on some products, there is a
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Since Africa is both a source of natural resources and an outlet for manufactures, it is an area where India and China’s needs overlap. ++ China’s
two-way trade with Africa is higher, yet it has been charged with neo imperialism and blamed for trading with dictators. ++ India is drawing nearer by dealing with Africa’s ethnic Indians and labeling its integration of the economy “contribution to
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A new report by the Boston Consulting Group reveals that developing world firms are growing fast and spreading into foreign markets. The list of 100 firms consists of multinationals which are expanding overseas aggressively.
So why have they ventured abroad? 16 of the 41 Chinese firms listed are owned by the Chinese government, and move on its orders, while others go in search of resources or
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J. Paul Horne of the European Institute reports that, after decades of US financial dominance, economic developments in Asia have driven down American GDP’s percentage scale of the global market. He suggests that the US initiate reforms to protect against emerging market power in Asia as well as in the European Union.
Reports by McKinsey as well as
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The Indian Ministry of External Affairs announced that it plans to double its diplomatic corps within the next five years, reports Jo Johnson of the Financial Times. During a decade in which India joined 13 multilateral organizations and saw its foreign trade surge seven-fold, the number of staff working for the ministry of external affairs decreased from 4,866 to 4,746. In order to address its
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The March 2007 Bruegel Policy Brief reveals that imbalances in global current account positions are not sustainable and need adjustment. A 15% depreciation of the dollar and an appreciation of Asian currencies is needed in order to:
- reduce the US current account deficit,
- faciliate China’s focus on domestic demand and reduce its accumulation of foreign exchange reserves, and
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The Aon Corporation’s Political and Economic Risk Map provides a concise visual guide to risk management for international business ventures in 214 countries. Political volatility in individual states is measured by looking at specific threats to business practice, including potential political interference, terrorism, and supply chain vulnerability. Countries are color-coded according to the
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