Suchergebnisse

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. Lessons from History -- 2. The Risk of Breakdown in the International Trade System -- 3. Modem Trade Agreements: The GATT Regime -- 4. Negotiating Trade Agreements: The Uruguay Round -- 5. The International Trade System of the 1990s -- Bibliography -- Index

A comprehensive overview of the state of crisis management in international affairs, this book focuses primarily on the U.S.-USSR relationship. For most of the postwar period, the U.S. superiority in nuclear weapons shaped the political structure within which international crises occurred. This edge began to deteriorate by the late 1970s, leading to a new and potentially more dangerous structure within which the superpower rivalry is now conducted. Arguing that the shifting nuclear balance has created a new dimension for crisis management, the contributors analyze such issues as the informal norms of diplomatic behavior that have evolved during the extended superpower rivalry, the tendency of both superpowers to engage in activities that progressively reduce crisis stability, and various concrete measures such as risk reduction centers that might enhance the current system for crisis management. The book also includes case studies of crisis management among non-superpowers. Taken together, these papers address the important question of how human control can be maximized in situations of international crisis.

This paper traces the negotiation of the NAFTA Environmental Side Agreement, conducted during the summer of 1993. It contrasts the original position of theNAFTAparties to the final agreement,and finds that the initial demand by the United States for an international mechanism (specifically, trade sanctions) to enforce the NAFTA parties' environmental legislation became heavily qualified in the final agreement. The reasons for this outcome were: (i) environmental enforcement posed a threat to national sovereignty; (ii) trade sanctions represented a special concern for smaller NAFTA part ners, and presented problems of workability in practice; and (iii) a cooperative rather than prosecutorial approach promised more positive benefits in an international environmental agreement. These conclusions are likely to pertain to future accession negotiations should NAFTA be expanded to include new members.