Australia in the World Economy: Globalisation, International Institutions, and Economic Governance

One of the defining features of 'globalization' is that political power and regulatory authority are no longer the exclusive preserve of governments acting within their territorial boundaries. In the highly complex, internationally-integrated economic order in which national governments now operate, policymakers rely on international economic institutions to help co-ordinate such activities and provide a predictable, rule-governed framework in which economic activity can take place. The first part of this paper outlines the nature of global governance. Our key argument here is that although the development of a more powerful superstructure of political institutions and economic co-ordination mechanisms across and above states may have been inevitable, the rationale that informed their policy direction was not. Particular ideas about the most appropriate ways of organising economic activity have been promoted by political and economic interests that might expect to benefit from such initiatives. The second part of this chapter examines how such processes have affected Australia in a case study of its relationship with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and its predecessor the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). One of the most important insights that emerges from this analysis is that globalization is a two-way street. In the complex dialectical interplay between the increasingly powerful economic forces and organizational structures that constitute the external international system on the one hand, and the contingent national institutional matrix through which such influences are mediated on the other, we find that while the forces of globalization may be constraining, they are not implacable

澳大利亚－日本自由贸易协定：前景及隐患

澳大利亚和日本两国政府正在进行一项可行性研究，该研究建议两国间开始全面的自由贸易协定谈判。此项研究已进展到最后阶段。在过去，这几乎是不可想象的，原因是日本国内对高度受保护的农业部门具有相当的政治敏感度。2002年，当澳大利亚首次提出与日本签订自由贸易协议的可能性时，来自日本农林水产省（MAFF）以及执政的自由民主党和生产者集团的反对，使得这一设想无法走得更远。此后日本选择的自由贸易协定伙伴一直限于那些对日本仅有少量农产品出口的国家。尽管如此，形势还是发生了很快的变化，越来越多的迹象表明：日本和澳大利亚很可能成功签订一项包括农业在内的自由贸易协定。译者单位：厦门理工学院外语系(361024

Political Leadership and Global Governance: Structural Power Versus Custodial Stewardship

This article examines the role of political leadership within the realm of global governance. Drawing upon relevant theories of political agency, particular attention is given to addressing the relationship between leadership and collective action. A two-level analysis of institution building in relation to maritime security and economic trade and investment reveals both strengths and weaknesses in practice. A review of the Law of the Sea Convention and the Multilateral Investment Agreement provides a salutary reminder that material power does not translate easily into dominating the rules of international conduct. The cases of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum and the Trans-Pacific Partnership further highlight the importance of mixed sources of political leadership in responding to economic challenges at the regional level. The policy implication for both the United States and China is that taking the lead in Global Governance, either jointly or multilaterally, will require a renewed focus upon custodial stewardship that aims to realign interests with long-term goals

Cultural diversity, copyright, and international trade

This chapter argues that the international copyright system, which is now embedded in the international trading system as a consequence of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), has operated at least in relation to some types of copyright-protected cultural goods and services (as defined in the 2005 UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions) as a fetter on cultural diversity and self-determination. This effect has been produced by certain aspects of copyright law itself allied with aspects of behavior in the global market for cultural goods and services. The chapter analyses the extent to which these fettering effects have been exacerbated by other WTO agreements. It then considers whether or not the WTO system can be regarded as being in conflict with the emerging international regime for the protection of cultural diversity as embodied in the 2005 UNESCO Convention

Past as global trade governance prelude: reconfiguring debate about reform of the multilateral trading system

This paper peers backwards into the history of the multilateral trading system and its development over the past half century as a means of considering what may lie beyond the horizon for the future of global trade governance. Its purpose is to underscore the necessity and urgency for root-and-branch reform of the multilateral trading system. It achieves this by comparing and contrasting the global trading system of 50 years ago with its modern-day equivalent and its likely future counterpart half-a-century hence. In so doing, the paper throws into sharp relief not only the inadequacies of global trade governance today but also the damaging consequences of not fundamentally reforming the system in the near future, with a particular emphasis on the past, present and future development of the world’s poorest and most marginalised countries

International trade law, plain packaging and tobacco industry political activity:the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Tobacco companies are increasingly turning to trade and investment agreements to challenge measures aimed at reducing tobacco use. This study examines their efforts to influence the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a major trade and investment agreement which may eventually cover 40% of the world's population; focusing on how these efforts might enhance the industry's power to challenge the introduction of plain packaging. Specifically, the paper discusses the implications for public health regulation of Philip Morris International's interest in using the TPP to: shape the bureaucratic structures and decision-making processes of business regulation at the national level; introduce a higher standard of protection for trademarks than is currently provided under the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights; and expand the coverage of Investor-State Dispute Settlement which empowers corporations to litigate directly against governments where they are deemed to be in breach of investment agreements. The large number of countries involved in the TPP underlines its risk to the development of tobacco regulation globally