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Essay Subject: Examaines the idea that corporate-led free trade promotes peace among nations.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Examines the idea that corporate-led free trade promotes peace among nations. Motivations of free trade including political and corporate interests. Issue of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as an extension of monopolistic exploitation. Resistance to the Multinational Agreement on Investment (MAI). Examples of NAFTA and the EEC. Argues that ending armed conflict and international peace must precede free trade. Paper Introduction: FREE TRADE & INTERNATIONAL PEACE Proponents of global free trade, especially corporate-led free trade, promote the idea that free trade among nations leads to peace among nations (Sirico, 1998). The proponents of such global free trade base their arguments on rather simplistic reasoning such as the following proposition: Western Europe was rife with tariffs and other trade barriers from 1890 through 1915, and this situation led to the debacle of the First World War. In contrast, the major nations of Western Europe created the free trade European Economic Community in the late-1950s and Western Europe has been free of armed conflict since that time. What such reasoning fails to consider is that the argument places the cart Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. (1987). I. "We are writing the constitution of a single global economy,"according to Renato Ruggerio (1996), World Trade Organization DirectorGeneral. L. The international law on foreign investment.Cambridge, England, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, Sirico, R. Shihata, I. (1994). (1992, June). Johnson (1996) contended also that growth in the developing andtransition economies offers enormous markets for the future. The political decision on ending armed conflict precedes the decision onfree trade. Busey (1958) promoted thefree trade - international peace connection through a contention that (a)international peace depends on the destruction of the power of nationstates and (b) free trade is the best way to destroy the power of nationstates. 2.Washington, DC: Cato Institute. Putting the cart beforethe horse in this way, however, will lead to conflict. In support ofthis latter argument, Johnson (1996) stated that, by 2 1 , more than abillion consumers in developing countries will have per capita incomesexceeding those of some OECD countries in the mid-199 s. Rather,the issue is one of precedence - the decision on peace must precede thedecision on trade. F. Trade Policy Briefing Paper. Further, trade must not destroy nations. If acorporation or investor feels they are not getting everything promised bythe MAI, they can demand payment from a government using a special MAItribunal. Is this the universal law of peaceat work? What such reasoning fails to consider is that the argument places thecart before the horse. J. The international tribunals that would hear the dispute couldimpose monetary fines on governments. Proponents of the proposed MAI contend that the elimination ofdisincentives to FDI is more important than are the incentives for FDI(Geist, 1995). (1998, July 17). Under the NAFTA investment protocol, the UnitedStates-based Ethyl Corporation sued the Canadian government for $251million dollars in damages over a public health and safety law that bannedthe known toxin MMT - a gasoline additive that Ethyl produces. Free trade and international peace can coexist peacefully for themutual benefit of all concerned. Retrieved from theInternet 2 1- 5-18 at: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/5148/busey_trade.html Dunning, J. The only forum under internationallaw in which this kind of "private standing" functions today is under theprovisions of the NAFTA. (1995, Spring). A. Accordingto Ethyl, the Canadian law constituted a measure tantamount toexpropriation under the terms of NAFTA and was thereby a violation. OECD Observer, (2 1), 4-5. Free trade and human rights:The moral case for engagement. N., & Greenaway, D. Geist, M. Dunning (1989) identified three conditions as beingessential for FDI to occur. An example of corporate interests spurring the global free trademovement is the Multinational Agreement on Investment (MAI) promoted by theOrganization for Economic cooperation and Development (OECD). L. Is this the universal law of peace at work? (1989). Further, the presence within an economy of aninternationally competitive manufacturer or service provider can raise theoverall performance of competing firms within a domestic market (Shihata,1987). Hardly! The internalization explanation offoreign direct investment (FDI), an extension to the monopoly exploitingpremise, argues that, in the presence of various of market imperfections,it is advantageous for firms to internalize rather than engage in arm's-length transactions. Law and Policy in InternationalBusiness, 26(3), 673-717. Arguing in support of the proposed MAI, Johnson (1996) contended thatOECD economies have made efficiency gains from their access to lower-costsuppliers in developing economies, and that they have found new and dynamicmarkets for their own goods and services in those same developingeconomies. If adopted,however, this agreement also would undermine the ability of federal, state,and local governments to shape economic and social policies that fostersafe, healthy, and equitable communities. The MAI aim is to attain this objective. Economicintegration and foreign direct investment: Japanese investment in the EC.Journal of Common Market Studies, 3 (2), 175-193. Sornrajah, M. What thisargument conveniently overlooked was that either: (1) per capita incomes inthe OECD countries will have increased further by 2 1 ; thus preserving therelative income differences between the OECD economies and the developingeconomies; or (2) real per capita incomes in the OECD countries willdecrease by 2 1 as the so-called race to the bottom continues. London:Unwin Hyman. The motivation to seek free trade typically flows fromcorporate interests to political interests, which, in turn, attempt to sellthe idea to the public (Brewer, 1995). No. Brewer, T. Third,internalization as opposed to arm's-length transactions must be beneficial. (1996, April). In theformer instance, consumers in the developing economies still will not beable to afford much of the output from the OECD economies, while in thelatter instance, the real market demand within the OECD economies willdeteriorate. Ruggiero, R. A better question is: have they ever been at war with oneanother? The requirements for FDI are consistent with a long-run globalizationstrategy by a corporation. Such protestations, however, appear to be a cover for anunstated agenda favoring the implementation of the proposed OECD-based MAI,which may be the institutionalization of corporate dominance in worldgovernance (Sornrajah, 1994). Factors influencing the flow of foreigninvestment and the relevance of a multilateral investment guarantee scheme.International Law, 21, 599-691. Johnston, D. Busey, J. Free Trade & International Peace Proponents of global free trade, especially corporate-led free trade,promote the idea that free trade among nations leads to peace among nations(Sirico, 1998). Foreign direct investment and themultilateral trading system. While open resistance to the MAI from a wide variety of sourcesappears outwardly to be succeeding, this appearance is an illusion.Keeping a low public profile because of public resistance, the proponentsof global free trade have been successful in including MAI language intofree trade agreements such a the North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA) and the newly proposed Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTTA). The imperative of freetrade. Henry George News, 1-2. The proponents of such global free trade base theirarguments on rather simplistic reasoning such as the following proposition: Western Europe was rife with tariffs and other trade barriers from 189 through 1915, and this situation led to the debacle of the First World War. (1995, Spring). Canada and Mexico would never make war with American military power.Australia and New Zealand entered into a free trade agreement in 1983, andthey are not at war with one another. Canada and the United States signed a free trade agreement in 1989,and Canada, Mexico, and the United States signed the NAFTA in 1996. Transnational Corporations, 5(1), 1-8. Explaining international production. First, firms should possess ownershipadvantages of the type identified in the monopoly-exploiting premise.Second, advantages should be associated with producing in a foreignlocation (lower-cost labor, access to raw materials, and so forth). The current text of the MAI gives private corporations and foreigninvestors legal standing to directly sue sovereign governments. Before free trade can occurbetween the United States and Cuba, however, the United States must makethe political decision that it wants to coexist peacefully with Cubawithout demanding that the country become a clone of the United States. International investment disputesettlement procedures: The evolving regime for foreign direct investment.Law and Policy in International Business, 26(3), 633-672. In almost every instance where free trade andinternational peace coexist, the nations involved in such free tradeagreements first determined that they would live in peace with one another. References Balasubramanyam, V. The MAI, according to this argument, would forbid most remainingbarriers to, and controls on international investment flows. (1996, August-September). In contrast, the major nations of Western Europe created the free trade European Economic Community in the late-195 s and Western Europe has been free of armed conflict since that time. Toward a general agreement on theregulation of foreign direct investment. From this decision followed the EEC. A widelyaccepted premise is that corporations expand to foreign markets in order toexploit the monopoly they possess over rent-yielding advantages such aseconomies of scale, and superior product and process technologies(Balasubramanyam & Greenaway, 1992). A further, advantage may arise from the fact that foreign investorslobby their home government for favorable policies toward the host state toprotect their investments. The nations of Western Europe decided among themselves to coexistpeacefully. A. H. Thethree countries are not at war with one another and are unlikely to enterwar with one another. (1958, June). Cuba could benefiteconomically and both the United States and Cuba could benefit politicallyfrom free trade between the two countries. This premise is not the issue. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.