Failing to Learn the Lessons of 9/11 & the Collapse of the Doha Round

Immediately following the attacks of 9/11 there was a moment when it appeared as though the US was prepared to engage in some serious self-reflection and look at their part in the events and history that led up to those attacks.

Clearly world trade had been lopsided for decades. The US enjoys an "exorbitant privilege" as Charles De Gaulle put it. They rack up trillions in world debts priced in the world's reserve currency the US dollar and whenever debts are due, they just print more dollars. Pressure builds. Bad things happen.

The Doha round of trade deals was a chance for America to come clean and show the world that maybe ugly empire spreading and debt-mongering was not its prime Modus Operandi.

As we see in this NYT article, it failed to take advantage of that opportunity.

After 7 Years, Talks on Trade Collapse

"Talks foundered on the right of India and other developing nations to protect sensitive agricultural products from competition in the event of a surge of imports that would make their own farmers less competitive. The United States argued that such protection, which is not permitted now, would mean moving backward on current world trade commitments.

Mari Elka Pangestu, the Indonesian trade minister, said the failure of the talks reflected the inability of the rich industrial powers to deal with the growing influence of China, India and Brazil in the global economy.

She complained that what she called "a reasonable request" had been blocked because the United States "is not going to show flexibility."

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Comments

[outnow]

The term used in my college days was "economic imperialism." Now it is named "neoliberalism." Dollar hegemony creating the petro-dollar is not fair trade so much as "Bretton Woods II" where OPEC must use the dollar. De Gaulle had it right. I suggest reading Henry C. K. Liu at the Asia Times Online for his viewpoint.

[dadw5boys]

The USA has plundered their natural resources and given them away to Coporoation without proper payment for their use and destruction.

Forgien countries are learning that protecting their resources espically from Forgien Copropartion is good because the GENTICALLY ALTERS SEEDS were failure and caused many thousands of Indian Farmers to go into debt who have never know debt in thier lfe. So many that some take their own lives instead of endure the shame of debt.

What a difference Ameicans who need debt for a credit score and Indians where debt would actually kill a credit score. But what credit score they have no system for this.

[Henry]

Max,
It is really hard for a larger population to focus on the nexus and the plexus of this problem. I think most people believe "what's the big problem?".
The rural hinterlands in America are irrigated chemical intensive capital production of small grains and animal products. Sparsely populated these areas are booming with agricultural exports boosted by a falling dollar.
The rural hinterlands in India and China have some vast segments of population that are subsistence in nature (at least relative to the west) and cannot withstand or be absorbed into the vaster economy with the shock of external competition.
It is as though their corporate cities that are depopulating jobs from America are having the same inverse problem of expungiing subsistence farming of their hinterlands by cheaper mass production from America. Which countries care more about their respective populations? It seems that China India et al care more about their populations vis-a-vis the global dividend than the west. Hard to blame them!

[ndem]

I keep thinking about 7 year cycles and how this summer reminds me a lot of 7 years ago just prior to 9/11 when the anti globalization protests were getting larger and larger and better organized and the police were becoming more violent.
I attended the Gothenberg EU and Bush's first European trip during which over 500,000 protesters, VERY well organized were separated from the leaders AMND the press by a protected area which surrounded the hotel and the conference center so that basically no one inside had any contact with anyone outside. It was US and THEM.

The protesters were shot at by the police and the following month, in Genoa, a young man was killed by the police.

Then came 9/11 and the movement was almost wiped out and the momentum killed and since it has gone online...building and building.

Ww are in exactly the same place we were pre 9/11 which means the worst is yet to come!

Everyone keeps saying something will happen before the election...but it has been happening the entire time as the American people have been robbed and the world has suffered the Bush regime.