Suchergebnisse

The paper examines the development of China's economic ties with Southeast Asia over the last two decades, culminating in the inauguration of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) in 2010. Particular reference is made to China's trade ties with Indonesia. Although two-way trade between China and Indonesia has grown rapidly since 2000, Indonesian exports to China are dominated by primary products, while imports from China are dominated by manufactures. While this pattern might reflect short-term comparative advantage in both economies, it is causing some concern in Indonesia. The paper assesses these concerns, and possible political reactions.

This paper discusses foreign direct investment from Southeast Asia to China. With the exception of some government-linked companies, most investments from Southeast Asia have been dominated by the region's overseas Chinese businesses. In addition to cheap labour costs, large domestic market and growing economy, China has provided business opportunities to investors from Southeast Asia thanks to their geographic proximity and ethnic connections, at least during the initial investment period. However, the network effects seem to decline soon after. As the Chinese economy becomes more globalised and more competitive, the success of foreign investment in China will increasingly depend on business competency rather than ethnic relations.

The WTO has an innovative system of dispute settlement, with the following features: sui-generis, integrated, resolving the disputes according to the WTO agreements, excluding unilateral solutions, interstate system. These features are detailed in the present article. Another level of analysis concerns the standing of the EU in the WTO, in general, and in the Geneva proceedings for dispute settlement, in particular. Generated by the quality of the European Communities statute as an original member of the Organisation, the EU has become one of the main users of the WTO dispute settlement system. One of the main challenges of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism is the implementation of decisions. In view of the cases assessed, while the execution record of the EU is a quite satisfactory one, it is apparent that implementation of decisions in more intricate cases creates difficulties at the Union level. Keywords: World Trade Organisation (WTO), European Union, Lisbon Treaty, competencies. (Romanian Journal of European Affairs / SWP)

Die deutliche Wahlniederlage der demokratischen Partei bei den Wahlen zum 112. US-Kongress am 2. November 2010, den sogenannten "midterm elections", wird konkrete innen- und außenpolitische Konsequenzen haben. Anhand von zwei wichtigen Themen - der nuklearen Abrüstung und der Begrenzung von CO2-Emissionen - werden in diesem Beitrag die unmittelbaren außenpolitischen Konsequenzen der Wahlen analysiert und ein Ausblick auf sich abzeichnende Trends gegeben. (GIGA)