Search

Across various regions and international regimes, what can be conceptualized as multilevel political opportunity structures have emerged, with non-state actors finding new opportunities to engage in collective action and make claims against elites and ins ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the approach of security governance, this paper presents the evolution of North America from as a region guided it by an economic rational, namely NAFTA, to an area in which security concerns have played a more relevant role in the regional agend ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the rules governing trade relations in North America underwent important changes as a result of the successful negotiation and ratification of two treaties. First came the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) in 1987. This was followed by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) ratified by Canada, Mexico and the US in 1993. CUFTA was largely absorbed into NAFTA - alternatively one might say that CUFTA was "enlarged". More than 10 years have past since NAFTA came into effect in January 1994, and numerous observers have begun to reflect over what the agreement has accomplished and how North Americanism can be protected and further developed. These reflections are usually based on a favorable view of both the agreement itself and "North Americanism" and rooted in a conviction that they need to be further developed in order to avoid the risk of stagnation, irrelevance, or even backsliding. The negative consequences of September 11 also highlighted NAFTA weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Finally, and not least, the example of European integration, which has deepened and grown considerably in the past 15 years, has encouraged reflection about the future of North American regional integration. The purpose of this paper is to think about the possibility of increased North American integration in light of what the European experience reveals about regional integration. It is obvious that the European context and experience are quite different from North America, and this often leads observers to conclude that there is little about the former that will help us understand the latter. While I do not want to argue that North American developments will mirror Europe's, I do think we gain insights from studying European developments. A considerable body of theory has been developed to explain cooperation in Europe. I will summarize what it suggests about driving forces behind integration. I also look at the empirical record of European integration. I then compare similarities and differences between the European and North American experiences. I conclude by discussing proposals for pushing North American integration further and whether recent Canadian and US elections can be expected to make any difference in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new free trade agreements are rescaling governance in ways that have critical implications for sub national governments. The nation state is not simply being hollowed out, rather a new governance nexus is forming - of nation states, multinational corporations and international agreements - which explicitly excludes sub national and local government voice. This paper describes the new governance features of the North American Free Trade Agreement and illustrates how they work out at the national, sub national and local scales in the US and Mexico. NAFTA provides the template for the new generation of free trade agreements (WTO, GATS and FTAA). We show how NAFTA's governance structure is undermining sub national and local government authority in legislative, judicial and contracting arenas. Designed to advance privatization of public services, these agreements undermine the very ability of local governments to use markets for public goods by defining traditional state and local governance mechanisms as non-tariff barriers to trade. The contradictions between private profit and public interest appear at the sub national level but their resolution is engaged at the global level between private investors and the nation state. Recognition of this rescaling requires attention to the reforming state and its implications for sub national authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]