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692. Tracking Trade Votes
- Author:
- Lael Brainard
- Publication Date:
- 12-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- No abstract is available.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
693. Protecting Intellectual Property Rights in Chinese Courts: An Analysis of Recent Patent Judgements
- Author:
- Veron Mei-Ying Hung and Mei Ying Gechlik
- Publication Date:
- 01-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2001, the country's commitment to abiding by the global body's rules has captured the attention of businesses and policy makers in the United States. Such attention is likely to grow because the Democrats are expected to use their regained power in Congress to toughen their stance on China trade issues, including intellectual property protection.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- United States, China, Europe, and Asia
694. Asia Source speaks to Irwandi Yusuf, the Governor of Aceh
- Author:
- Nermeen Shaikh
- Publication Date:
- 09-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Asia Society
- Abstract:
- Irwandi Yusuf is the Governor of Aceh. A former separatist leader, Governor Yusuf has held several positions with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). He was formally installed as Aceh's first democratically elected governor on February 8, 2007.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Treaties and Agreements, and War
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Australia/Pacific
695. The United States and the WTO Dispute Settlement System
- Author:
- Robert Z. Lawrence
- Publication Date:
- 03-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- The United States likes to think of itself as a nation that abides by its treaties and commitments. Successive U.S. administrations have taken the obligations implied by international agreements seriously: They have opted out of parts of many agreements for fear that compliance would be contrary to U.S. interests, and have refused outright to sign some treaties on the grounds of potential legal exposure. But U.S. behavior toward the World Trade Organization is different; in this case, the United States has been quite willing to accept binding multilateral rules. Yet, the United States has also been repeatedly judged to be in violation of its WTO commitments by the organization's dispute settlement panels, and although some violations could be ascribed to uncertainties about the meaning of the rules, the United States is also guilty of disregarding the rules deliberately. Opinion in Congress sometimes encourages this behavior; legislators are less likely to question the legitimacy of U.S. conduct than to question the WTO's authority to pass judgment over the United States. Moreover, these tensions are likely to escalate if the Doha Round of global trade negotiations breaks down. If the diplomatic route to market access is blocked, trading partners will seek access to U.S. consumers by bringing more cases before the WTO's tribunals. A surge in such cases could increase resentment of the WTO in the United States, weakening America's commitment to its traditional postwar role as the bulwark of the international trading system. This would be unfortunate, because even without changes in the behavior of its trading partners, the rules of the WTO improve the performance of the U.S. economy.
- Topic:
- International Relations, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
696. Climate Change, Competitiveness and Trade
- Author:
- Aaron Cosbey and Richard Tarasofsky
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- This report considers the implications of the Kyoto Protocol on competitiveness and addresses the WTO-compatibility of measures to offset competitive losses. From the outset the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have had to contend with perceived tension between effective action to slow climate change and maintenance of competitiveness. This report explores the nature of the concerns over competitiveness, trying to dissect them in a meaningful way and assess the need for concern. It employs a definition of competitiveness that applies as between firms, as opposed to any general notion of the competitiveness of nations.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, and United Nations
697. The Doha Round and Beyond: Towards a lasting relationship between the WTO and the international environmental regime
- Author:
- Richard Tarasofsky and Alice Palmer
- Publication Date:
- 02-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- The vast majority of the world's governments have signed up to both the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and to the major multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). However, the relationship between these bodies of law is a troubled one. There are potential conflicts between the rules and procedures, as well as areas where more positive synergies between policy objectives have yet to be achieved. The net effect is legal and political uncertainty, impeding optimal global governance of both trade and environment objectives. In particular, as pressures grow to develop more stringent economic obligations to address global climate change problems, there is an increasing possibility of a damaging clash between the WTO and MEA regimes. This paper sets out options for avoiding these conflicts and building positive relationship between international trade and environmental objectives.
- Topic:
- International Law, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
698. Origins of the United States-India Nuclear Agreement
- Author:
- Itty Abraham
- Publication Date:
- 05-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Relations between the world's largest democracy, India, and the oldest, the United States, have never been better. The preeminent sign of this improved state of relations is, of course, the recent concord between the governments of both countries that proposes bilateral cooperation on a variety of fronts, from space to agriculture, but especially in relation to civilian nuclear cooperation. Bilateral agreements signed in July 2005 in Washington, D.C., and following President Bush's visit to India in March 2006,1 were hailed as historic, seemingly marking the end of “estrangement,” to borrow Ambassador Dennis Kux's characterization of relations between the two countries. But for all its claims to be “historic,” the agreements were not greeted equally, or with equal acclaim, in both capitals.
- Topic:
- Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- United States, South Asia, and India
699. Policy Space for Mexican Maize: Protecting Agro-biodiversity by Promoting Rural Livelihoods
- Author:
- Timothy A. Wise
- Publication Date:
- 03-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
- Abstract:
- Since the introduction of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, traditional maize farmers in Mexico have faced difficult economic conditions. In barely more than a decade, as many as one million farmers may have abandoned their land under economic pressure from rising imports, low prices for maize and other traditional crops, weak local and regional demand, and large reductions in public sector support for agriculture. The losses are environmental as well as economic. With the loss of traditional maize, there has been a documented loss of the agricultural biodiversity of which these farmers and their ancestors have been stewards for centuries. With maize trade scheduled to be fully liberalized under NAFTA in 2008, many farm groups are calling for a renegotiation of the treaty's agricultural provisions to prevent further damage. This policy analysis examines the room for alternative policies in Mexico under existing economic and environmental agreements, including NAFTA. It concludes that the Mexican government retains access to many useful policy instruments that could promote rural livelihoods while arresting the losses of important maize diversity. What is lacking is the political will to make use of them.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Development, Economics, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- North America and Mexico
700. Checking the Czech Role in the European Neighbourhood
- Author:
- Petr Kratochvil and Elsa Tulmets
- Publication Date:
- 05-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of International Relations Prague
- Abstract:
- If a stranger were asked to choose the most ambitious of the current EU policies, he might pick the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP): Not only does it bring forty-three countries together, EU members and non-members alike, but its main aims are so broad, and at times so contradictory, that one wonders how all of them could be reached: The Policy purportedly should provide stabilisation and democratisation; it should secure inclusion but avoid further enlargement; it should ensure differentiation, yet create “one ring of friends”. All this makes the ENP similar to a strange animal whose future evolution is shrouded from the observations of even the most penetrating analysts.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Eastern Europe