NAFTA, Mercosur, and Free Trade Agreements in North and South America: An Overview - Prof., Study notes of Political Geography

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World Regions Online Lectures International Organizations Introduction  States are working together like never before in supranationalist organizations o Working across nation groups o Supersede state boundaries o Formed for money, security, or common cultures o Mission binds states together in order to better achieve common goals The Changing Nature of Cooperation  International Organizations are gaining in popularity and number o Has just begun in the last 60-70 years after WWII in 1945 o The epic scale of death and destruction after in the 1900s called for international organizations  With the new technology, nations were able to kill better than ever  League of Nations 1919 o First international organization that was proved to be unsuccessful o During WWII it became obvious with the invention of nuclear weapons that the world would not survive without coming together  United Nations 1945 o Significance of time  Post-WWII  Western powers at global peak economically, politically, and defensively  Western powers dominated the leadership of supranationalist organizations  Eastern countries in 1945  China and the Middle East are non-powers  India still a colony of UK; Africa still a colony  Changing fast in today’s world o New non-western organizations are being formed o Existing institutions are reconstructing their leadership  In order for a state to become a part of an organization, it has to give up a bit of its sovereign power  Reasons for supranationalist organizaitons o Money/Economic power o Safety/Defense o Cultural commonality o Odd balls exist  G-7, G-8, G-20, BRIC, NUKES Why Work Together: Economics  Trade has exploded in the past several decades  Free trade eliminates as many barriers possible between businesses across countries o Cheap prices from trading passes on to consumers o By more and sell more  What prevents free trade o Mostly governments  Protectionism-protect industries in state at expense of others o Two ways government can protect its own industries 1. Put tariffs on imported goods 2. Subsidies: help local businesses monetarily  Trade blocks- is a type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, where regional barriers to trade (tariffs and non-tariff barriers) are reduced or eliminated among the participating states  Trade imbalance o People do not make same amount of money o Negative trade balance- buying more than making o Positive trade balance- sell more than buying  The United States buys a lot from Japan, Japan does not buy a lot from US  China has positive balance with most states o Dumping- country in surplus of good dumps at half cost (against free trade law)  World Trade Organization (WTO) o Regulatory institution to ensure everyone follows rules o 153 members (out of 190) o Body oversees free trade and if a country in the WTO breaks rules it can be punished o U.S.A. has the most outstanding complaints o Greatly protested  Almost all groups have economic Gains in mind even if it focused mainly on something else NAFTA  North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) o Three countries: United States, Canada, and Mexico  Complicated Features o Countries at different levels of development o Lesser development country can make cheap commodities o Higher development focuses on technology and agriculture (tractors/subsides)  Negotiated/Standardized elements between free trade area o Environmental concerns, consumer protection, copyright laws o NAFTA has sorted out most of these issues o Soon India, Australia, and New Zealand o Future of Asia Everybody Loves ASEAN!  October 29-30- East Asia Summit (EAS)  Trading block of 10 Sovereign states o Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam  More than a trade block o Striving to be like EU o NOT just about trade  Other countries at summit (EAS) o ASEAN + 3- China, South Korea, and Japan  Mostly interested in trade  Also investment  Half Earth’s population o New Zealand, Australia, India also came  Australia- immigration  India- regional security o Stability and security in East Asian area o Russia came as observer  Energy cooperation  Nuclear industries o United States came as observer (Hillary Clinton)  Supporter of ASEAN  Reengaging themselves as a player in East Asia  Help balance off China  Obama was on his Asian tour during these meetings  Ninth biggest economy if single entity  Almost like UN in Asia  First ever defense minister meeting of ASEAN + 3 o Regional security o Led by Chinese o Deployable force for natural disasters (Ring of Fire) o Terrorism o Incorporating militaries for specific goals  China pledge billions of support for transportation and communication networks o Help economic activity o By helping ASEAN and getting richer, it will increase interconnectivity of China o More influence in region o Another reason for U.S. to be there  ASEAN putting pressure on Burma because brutal dictatorship o Embarrassment of ASEAN o Burma has set a democratic election (sham) o ASEAN has the only influence on Burma because it makes Burma richer  Regional pressures are becoming more and more influential  EAS may become summit to keep Asia stable  Looks like foundation of continent wide trade block, mini Asian United Nations European Union  European Union o Most successful economic and political organization o Started out as a trade block o 27 states: GDP $16-17 trillion o EU is the biggest economy  United States of Europe  Why Europe o WAR! Long time Europe has not been working together o Perpetual conflict and destruction led to EU o Need to rebuild after WWII o European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) developed in 1951 to help rebuild  Original Six o France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg  In 1957: o ECSC merged with Atomic Energy Agency o European Economic Community opened trade  In 1993 changed named to EU o Common currency o Economic policy o Military o Political-singular parliament o Free movement of people (greatly different) o Legal Government unity  Why is EU still growing? o More money o Rich countries stay to get richer  Need to be able to compete with U.S. , China, and Japan  The EU is the model… for the world?!?! o Security Council (most important)- executive branch  Can start or stop anything  UN Successfulness o Large debate on successfulness  War on Terrorism? o However, avoided a WWIII and not many state-to-state conflicts  Internal affect international politics UN Security Council  UN Security performs like the executive branch  Permanent 5 are like the “president” o Have veto power  15 members of council o 10 rotating members- 2 year terms o Permanent 5 members  United States, UK, China, Russia, and France  Why do these 5 have power? What kind of Power? o Any P% can veto any UN resolution and will stop it dead o Commonality  All nuclear power- first 5 and declared  “winners” of WWII o Played off each other  United States and UK: UK follows U.S.  Russia and Chinese support each other  France is the wild card  Most of planet Earth is not represented on P5  Dynamics o Resolution has to go through P5 o P5 balance and represent their allies o UN Security General is from neutral state  Problematic P5 o Not representative of economic/political power o 5 countries tagged as new P5 members  Germany, Japan, India, Brazil, and South Africa  Germany already sits in on important resolution (P5 +1)  China hates Japan and has friction with India  None of P5 would allow new P5 members because it would dilute their power P5 Players and Haters  P5 Powers and Veto Power 1. Establishment of any UN peace keeping operations 2. International sanctions 3. Any real military action  Two teams: West vs. East o UN team west: U.S. and UK o UN team east: Russia and China o UN middle man: France (mostly team west) o Helps to have a balance; however, not a lot gets done  Interesting Exceptions: UN involvement o 1950-1953 Korean war o China did not veto  Did not have a seat for China in 1950s  Taiwan held China’s P5 spot from 1945-1971  USSR held Russia’s seat from 1945-1991  2003: U.S. proposed resolution for UN to invade Iraq  Who protects who o P5 protect themselves and strong allies from UN actions o U.S. protects Israel o Russia protects central Asian states and Serbia o China protects North Korea, Burma and Sudan o Russia and China does business with the western world’s worry, Iran  No UN military actions  Working on sanctions SCO  Shanghai Cooperation Organization o 1996 signed treaty deepening military trust o Shanghai 5: Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan  1997 SCO members signed: Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions  Observer states: India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan o 50% of world population part of SCO  Long way to go, just the beginning  Centered on o Security related concerns: terrorism, extremism, separatism o Protect sovereignty, new and different o Broadened cooperation on issues like: overall security, crime, legal framework, help police forces, drug trafficking (Afghanistan and heroine)  Prevented U.S. from invading other countries during War in Afghanistan  Work on economics o Long term objective of free trade o Form “energy club” o Natural Gas “OPEC” with Russia and Central Asia  SCO is the Asian alternative to western dominated blocks o Shift away from the U.S. dollar influence o U.S. has applied and has been denied observers status for 10 years  BREAKDOWN o ASEAN is to Asia as EU is to Europe o SCO is to Asia as NATO is to the Western World Why Work Together: Culture  Cultural identity: some of the biggest international organizations  Arab League o Arab ETHNICITY, created in 1945 o Members: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen (expanded to 22) o Goal to solve common problems; however, just mostly fight o Contains most of OPEC members; could/should have more voice and would be tremendous power if they worked together  Organization of American States (OAS) o 35 member states of America o Focused on their goal to strengthen democracy, work for peace and defend human rights  Oversees elections o Successful because of their fined tuned goals and ideas and are talking about doing more  African Union o Second biggest international organization (53 states) o Africa continent minus Morocco o From Union States, African Unity, to African Community, still has not worked o Try to mimic EU and was unsuccessful o Only promising aspect is its military  Has outside support from Western Nations Early History  Origins in Central Asia; Mongolians o Borrowing from Asia o Culture/influences from Asia o Writing, philosophy, arts, architecture, martial arts evolved from Asia and made distinctly Japan  680 AD – recognized as state (young) o Yomato dynasty (Emperor Jimmu) still present  Oldest and continuous through history  Emperor is head of state – monarch o Similar to Europe’s feudalism  Same think and same time in Japan  Emperor  Shogun  Diamyo  Samurai (military)  Peasants  1580 Tokogawa Shogunate take over o Consolidate power for first time o Global isolation o Tokogawa peace era  Explosion of Japanese Culture  Arts and architecture  Education, even girls, forward thinking  Plunge Japan in isolation  Other parts taking over world  Regulated ports at Nagasaki o 1853: Commodore Perry opens Japan to trade  U.S. forcibly opens Japan to trade Meiji Restoration  1868 Meiji Restoration begins o Reason why Japan is second largest economy o Redoing Japanese society o Inferior to Western World, under developed  Embraced Western Influence o Successful renewal (no other Asian state did)  Japanese pro-nationalized to do redo 1. Ban the samurai and get rid of feudal order 2. Absorb western technologies (made it themselves) 3. Adopt Western system 4. Emulate western culture  By 1900 Japan is a power the west cannot manipulate o Sets them apart from rest of Asia o Asian neighbors are at their lowest point Imperial Rise of Rising Sun  Imperialization o 1895: Sino-Japanese War  Fight over Korean Peninsula o 1900 Boxer Rebellion- smash rebellion in China  Considered equals with West and challenges them o 1990s Russo-Japanese War: Japan Won  Start to take over China and Russia  Asian Empire o 1937 declared war on China o 1941 take over South East Asia  Ended up bombing Pearl Harbor o Were designs to take over Australia for resources Bad Blood War  1895 Japanese invade Korea and Korea becomes a slave state  1900 Japan suppress China during Boxer Rebellion o 1937-1945 Japan invades and occupies China o 1937 Rape of Nanking- still remembered today o Death and destruction o 6 week campaign of killing civilians o 20-35 million dead (compare to 6 million in Holocaust)  Asian animosity towards Japan continues today o White wash scandal o Yasukuni Shrine  1941 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor o Pulls U.S. into war  1942 Bataan Death March o Philippines, U.S. troops and ally o Took POWs and marched them to death o Unleashed U.S. retaliation  Japan was firebombed then Hiroshima and Nagasaki  A lot of anger led to destruction of Japan  Now, decades after WWII, Asian animosity remains in Japan  Japan was in complete devastation at end of WWII and becomes occupied by U.S. Post-War Economic Rebuild  Blank Slate, completely destroyed and occupied by U.S.  General Douglas MacArthur o Accepts full surrender o In control of Japan to oversee redo  Like Meiji Restoration o Japan embraces U.S.  Japan bans military from constitution and creates Japan Self-Defense Force o Like U.S. National Guard o U.S. does not want this because it puts Japan in dependency with U.S.  Since U.S. is there they spend more time getting rich  Focus on consumer electronics and automobile industry (60s-80s)  Industry+ Government combo+ U.S. Security blanket allowed for Japan to get rich  U.S. helped to become an ally and trading partner with Japan and ensure Japan’s alliance during the Cold War Shinto Slump  1980s: consumer boom in Japan o Internal economy boomed o Anti-Japanese sentiment  America in recession  Prices inflate in Japan and get out of control  Consumers go back to saving and not spending  Economy becomes flat  1900s: another crash o Bank interest rate = 0%; try to encourage spending, didn’t work  Nikkei Stock Index- major stock trading center in Japan o No growth rate in decades o Problem is its past success  Keiretsu- interlocking business and government  Population is shrinking and long longevity o Decreasing work force and tax base o Xenophobia- fear of foreigners= no immigrants  Politically stagnant -Two bombs destined to Chicago intercepted by the UK and the UAE -Yemen is the new FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) -Saudi Arabia is doing cross border attacks to Yemen -Active spot for terrorism Prime Minister of Italy, Berlusconi -multiple sexual scandals -pressure to step down from his party; 4 senators quit -Burma hosts first election in 20 years; results of election will probably be military dictators -Election sham but wants to be accepted in the international community Released Suu Kyi to try to gain legitimacy in the world’s eye - Senior General Than Shwe won sham election General Petraeus is mad at Hamid Karzai U.S. is protecting Karzai from Taliban and he wants the U.S. to leave them alone. -Wiki links people released classified documents about world leaders; caused other world leaders to become mad a U.S. -Leonardo DiCaprio meets Putin and Putin calls Leo a “real man” -Leo donated $1 million to save tigers Kim Jong-Il visited soy sauce factory after North Korea attacks South Korea reinforces insanity -attacks Yeonpyeong, biggest attack since war, China supporting North Korea World Leaders President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy -French labor unions have been on strike because of the rise of retirement age -He is declining in popularity -Talks security with Germany and Russia -signs security treaty with UK -shuffled cabinet to move rightward -visited India -Israel Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, recognized Israel as a “Jewish state” -Pissing off Palestinians -Abbas, Palestinian, cannot recognize Israel; peace talks are done Future leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un -celebrated by biggest military parade -young, will be around for a while -radical change in future Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel -says German multicultural society has failed -anti-immigration along with rest of Europe -4 million Turkish people in Germany, against Turkey joining the EU -talks defense with Russia and France President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev -talks defense with Germany and France -visited Kuril Islands; first Russian President to do so -disputed territory with Russia and Japan Prime Minister of Russia, Vladimir Putin -Rare anti-Putin rally in Moscow Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh -met with Naoto Kan of Japan -strengthening ties against rising China President of Japan, Naoto Kan -strengthening ties with India Lula da Silva Anders Fogh Rasmussen Hu Jintao Former President of Brazil Security General of NATO Pres of China Natural Disasters  Typhoon hits Philippines, moves to southern China as tropical storm  Indonesian Earthquake and tsunami o 500 killed o Massive volcano in Java erupts  Causes air traffic to shut down  Cholera in Haiti o Brought by earthquake o More fatalities after the fact because of disease in this developing country o Haiti hit by hurricane Tomas  Pakistan reports 99 cases of cholera In the News  12 Mexican mayors dead because of drug war; shows evidence of government is fighting back  Hungary experiences toxic spill  Boats colliding in Pacific causes tension between China and Japan  Massive joint U.S. and Russian anti-drug invasion into Afghanistan o 90% of world’s heroine produced in Afghanistan o Russia blames NATO for heroine problem  Hillary Clinton went to Australia; offered military bases on soil  North Korea’s attack on South Korea o After WWII, being a slave state of Japan’s, Korea needed to be liberated o USSR invaded North to help  Communism o U.S. invaded South to help  Pro-democracy o 1950-53 Korean War  First UN War  Became China and U.S.  China aided North Korea  U.S. aided South Korea  War ended where it started so Korea became North and South Korea o U.S. and South Korea begin live fire drills o No one responding to China’s request of 6-party talk