The work deals with the role of the U.S. and Mexico in NAFTA and with the reasons for the entry. The thesis focuses on the objectives and organization of the Agreement, while exploring fundamental problem - migration. Then focuses on the steps of presidents Obama and Calderón and evaluates pending negotiations on the FTAA.

This dissertation examines the failure to achieve a final agreement for the Free Trade Area of the Americas(FTAA)at the 2005 Mar del Plata Summit of the Americas. The predominant explanation for this outcome highlights the economic asymmetries and the lack of economic interdependence between the participating states. In view of these structural impediments, based on original field interviews and extensive document analysis, the author goes a step further and argues that these factors were exacerbated by an ideological shift that took place during the decade that the FTAA was negotiated. Specifically, it is argued that the emerging consensus in the hemisphere that was in place at the launching of the FTAA negotiations in 1994 centered on the desirability of economic liberalization; this began to unravel in view of growing political challenges to neo-liberalism in many of the Americas’ social formations. This particular political challenge of economic liberalization emerged against the background of the failure of neo-liberal reforms to achieve their promised results, and the resultant socio-economic polarization. In many social formations, this polarization led to crises of authority, which sometimes opened the political arena to social forces that articulated, to different degrees, alternatives to neo-liberalism. In two countries of import for the FTAA, Venezuela and Brazil, governments were elected which challenged the United States’ leadership within the FTAA negotiations, based on a discourse of state sovereignty. In broader terms, the growing de-legitimization of neo-liberalism in the Americas engendered crises of authority in certain countries, notably in Venezuela and Brazil. This in turn brought forth political dynamics that constrained the United States’ hegemony in the hemisphere, which would have been consolidated by the FTAA. As such, this dissertation draws upon a Gramscian analysis to examine the manner in which crises of authority, rooted in the social formations of the hemisphere, came to be manifested within the institutional framework of the FTAA. Consequently, this work further demonstrates that global governance structures are not only mechanisms through which hegemony is disseminated and counter-hegemony is absorbed, but that they can serve as spaces where hegemony can be confronted and counter-hegemony articulated. / Thesis (Ph.D, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-01-24 10:01:37.746

[pt] Em maio de 1997, realizou-se, em Belo Horizonte (MG), de acordo com o cronograma definido na cúpula presidencial de Miami, nova reunião dos ministros encarregados do comércio exterior no quadro dos entendimentos preliminares relativos à eventual constituição de uma Área de Livre Comércio das Américas (ALCA). Nesta reunião, tornaram-se flagrantes as posições negociadoras diametralmente opostas apresentadas pelos negociadores dos Estados Unidos e do Brasil. Além disso, Belo Horizonte foi palco de manifestações de representantes de setores econômicos e sociais que discordavam dos rumos com que vinham se delineando as negociações hemisféricas. A partir deste episódio, o presente trabalho busca analisar a atuação e posicionamento dos grupos de interesse e eleitorado domésticos brasileiros e sua interação com os operadores diplomáticos, buscando influenciar o processo decisório, durante as negociações entre os governos do continente. Para tanto, são utilizados os rendimentos analíticos da metáfora dos jogos em dois níveis, proposta por Robert Putnam, avaliando-se os argumentos brasileiros com relação a três aspectos: credibilidade, legitimidade e poder de barganha da posição negociadora brasileira. O argumento central apresentado é o de que a estratégia negociadora brasileira para a ALCA, apesar de elevado grau de credibilidade, carece de legitimidade interna, o pode afetar, em grande medida, seu poder de barganha na mesa de negociações internacionais. / [en] In May 1997, according to the schedule agreed at the Summit of Miami, another meeting of foreign commerce ministers was held in Belo Horizonte. It aimed at continuing the preliminary understandings regarding the possible formation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). During the meeting the opposite position sustained by North-American and Brazilian dealers became evident. Belo Horizonte served as stage for demonstrations by economic and social segment representatives who disagreed about the course negotiations were taking. The present study aims at analysing the action and positions of Brazilian domestic constituencies and their interaction with diplomatic corps, with a view to influencing the decision making process during the negotiations among Continent governments. Therefore, insights derived from two-levelgames metaphor, proposed by Professor Robert Putnam, are used to evaluate three aspects of Brazilian arguments: credibility, legitimacy and bargaining power of the Brazilian negotiating view. The central argument presented is that the Brazilian strategy for the FTAA, despite of a high level credibility, lacks domestic legitimacy which may seriously affect its bargaining power at international negotiations.

O objeto de estudo desta Tese é o impacto da formação da Área de Livre Comércio das América (Alca) sobre a economia brasileira. A economia brasileira não é homogênea internamente, possuindo contrastes importantes entre setores e regiões. A Alca, por seu lado, pode ser considerada um bloco de países com interesses distintos e marcada por importantes assimetrias. Devem ser esperados, dessa forma, impactos espaciais e setoriais diferenciados na economia brasileira como fruto das diferentes alternativas de acordo que surjam das negociações na Alca. O estudo dessas questões requer uma metodologia adequada, que considera de maneira sistemática as relações inter-regionais e intersetoriais, assim como a inserção internacional das economias locais. Modelos inter-regionais de equilíbrio geral computável são ferramentas importantes nessa área, e exemplos para a economia brasileira são encontrados na literatura. SPARTA (São Paulo Applied Regional Trade Analysis) é o modelo inter-regional de equilíbrio geral computável implementado nesta Tese. Uma de suas inovações está no tratamento detalhado dos fluxos externos, especificando mercados de origem e destino para as importações e exportações regionais, o que possibilita simular os impactos da liberalização tarifária no âmbito da Alca. Os resultados obtidos permitem projetar um efeito positivo da liberalização tarifária na Alca para o crescimento do PIB e geração de superávit comercial, no longo prazo. Regionalmente, entretanto, os impactos atuam no sentido da concentração relativa da produção e investimento na economia paulista. Além disso, uma importante diferenciação setorial dos impactos da liberalização na Alca pode ser identificada. Dentro dessa perspectiva, são discutidos aspectos relacionados à necessidade e adequação de políticas públicas. / The process of trade liberalization in Brazil has been extended in recent years to broader regional trade agreements, motivated by both economic and political objectives. The country has been pursuing different strategies of regional integration in an attempt to strengthen strategic impulses for economic development. One of the alternatives for the development of an economic trading block is the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a process initiated in the 1994 Summit of the Americas to integrate the economies of the Western Hemisphere into a single free trade agreement. In this dissertation an interregional CGE model is used to analyze the short-run and long-run regional and sectoral effects of trade liberalization in a FTAA agreement. The model provides a description of the Brazilian inter-regional economic system, separated in two regions, São Paulo and Rest of Brazil. One of its innovations is a full specification of foreign trade in both regions, capturing the complete structure of trade flows linking the two Brazilian regions and FTAA markets. In this way, adequate tariff liberalization simulations can be implemented. The model simulations provide results in macro, regional and sectoral levels. A positive effect of FTAA liberalization on Brazilian GDP growth and trade balance can be expected. However, the results suggest that the interplay of market forces in the Brazilian economy favors the more developed state of the country (São Paulo). Additionally, sectoral liberalization under FTAA can produce heterogeneous regional impacts. These figures provide the framework to discuss adequate regional economic policies.

O objeto de estudo desta Tese é o impacto da formação da Área de Livre Comércio das América (Alca) sobre a economia brasileira. A economia brasileira não é homogênea internamente, possuindo contrastes importantes entre setores e regiões. A Alca, por seu lado, pode ser considerada um bloco de países com interesses distintos e marcada por importantes assimetrias. Devem ser esperados, dessa forma, impactos espaciais e setoriais diferenciados na economia brasileira como fruto das diferentes alternativas de acordo que surjam das negociações na Alca. O estudo dessas questões requer uma metodologia adequada, que considera de maneira sistemática as relações inter-regionais e intersetoriais, assim como a inserção internacional das economias locais. Modelos inter-regionais de equilíbrio geral computável são ferramentas importantes nessa área, e exemplos para a economia brasileira são encontrados na literatura. SPARTA (São Paulo Applied Regional Trade Analysis) é o modelo inter-regional de equilíbrio geral computável implementado nesta Tese. Uma de suas inovações está no tratamento detalhado dos fluxos externos, especificando mercados de origem e destino para as importações e exportações regionais, o que possibilita simular os impactos da liberalização tarifária no âmbito da Alca. Os resultados obtidos permitem projetar um efeito positivo da liberalização tarifária na Alca para o crescimento do PIB e geração de superávit comercial, no longo prazo. Regionalmente, entretanto, os impactos atuam no sentido da concentração relativa da produção e investimento na economia paulista. Além disso, uma importante diferenciação setorial dos impactos da liberalização na Alca pode ser identificada. Dentro dessa perspectiva, são discutidos aspectos relacionados à necessidade e adequação de políticas públicas. / The process of trade liberalization in Brazil has been extended in recent years to broader regional trade agreements, motivated by both economic and political objectives. The country has been pursuing different strategies of regional integration in an attempt to strengthen strategic impulses for economic development. One of the alternatives for the development of an economic trading block is the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a process initiated in the 1994 Summit of the Americas to integrate the economies of the Western Hemisphere into a single free trade agreement. In this dissertation an interregional CGE model is used to analyze the short-run and long-run regional and sectoral effects of trade liberalization in a FTAA agreement. The model provides a description of the Brazilian inter-regional economic system, separated in two regions, São Paulo and Rest of Brazil. One of its innovations is a full specification of foreign trade in both regions, capturing the complete structure of trade flows linking the two Brazilian regions and FTAA markets. In this way, adequate tariff liberalization simulations can be implemented. The model simulations provide results in macro, regional and sectoral levels. A positive effect of FTAA liberalization on Brazilian GDP growth and trade balance can be expected. However, the results suggest that the interplay of market forces in the Brazilian economy favors the more developed state of the country (São Paulo). Additionally, sectoral liberalization under FTAA can produce heterogeneous regional impacts. These figures provide the framework to discuss adequate regional economic policies.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:58:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2002-03-15T00:00:00Z / The purpose of this dissertation is to analyse the political economy of Free Trade Area of America based on a sequential non-cooperative Stackelberg political game between a large economy and a small economy, in which the political dispute of rival lobby groups define the unilateral stance of both governments in the first stage and the Stackelberg 'coalition-proof' equilibrium define the format of the free trade agreement in the second stage. Finally, I discuss a few modifications in the initial game structure in order to enhance the small economy's negotiation power. / O objetivo desta dissertação é analisar a economia política da Área de Livre Comércio das Américas a partir de um jogo político seqüencial não-cooperativo de Stackelberg entre uma grande economia e uma pequena economia, onde a disputa política entre grupos lobistas rivais define as preferências unilaterais dos governos no primeiro estágio e o equilíbrio 'coalition-proof' de Stackelberg define o formato do acordo de livre comércio no segundo estágio. Finalmente, discute-se algumas modificações na estrutura inicial do jogo que possam aumentar o poder de negociação da pequena economia.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Este trabalho focaliza os fenômenos da politização da política externa e da luta pela democratização do seu processo decisório no que se refere às políticas deintegração regional de Argentina e Brasil, nos âmbitos do MERCOSUL e da ALCA. O objetivo principal é analisar, por um lado, os processos de liberalização política edemocratização do regime ocorridos nestes dois países entre os anos 1970 e 1980,e, por outro, as relações entre a incorporação do regionalismo às respectivas estratégias de inserção internacional e a politização da política externa, desde o finalda Guerra Fria. Considerando as controvérsias em torno do conceito de democracia,são discutidas as principais estratégias de análise encontradas na políticacomparada e as três principais perspectivas teóricas contemporâneas (realismo,pluralismo e deliberativismo). A análise empírica concentra-se em dois processos: a criação do MERCOSUL, desde suas origens até o final da fase de transição (1991-1994), e as negociações para a criação da ALCA, desde o seu lançamento até a suspensão (1994 2005). Argumenta-se que apesar da incorporação do regionalismo haver gerado um aumento da politização doméstica em torno da política externa, isto não significou, no entanto, qualquer avanço no sentido da democratização das decisões nestes âmbitos específicos / This work focuses on the phenomena of politicization of foreign policy and the struggle for democratization of its decision-making process, in what refers to the regional integration policies of Argentine and Brazil, in MERCOSUR and FTAA. The main objective is to analyze, in first place, the processes of political liberalization and regime transition occurred in these countries between the late 1970s and the early 1980s, and, secondly, the relation between the incorporation of regionalism in the respective international insertion strategies and the politicization of foreign policies since the end of the Cold War. Considering the controversies around the concept of democracy, this essay discusses the main analytical strategies found in comparative politics and the three main contemporary theoretical perspectives (realism, pluralism and deliberativism). The empirical analysis focuses in two processes: the creation of the MERCOSUR, from its origins to the end of its transition phase (1991-1994), and the negotiations to the establishment of the FTAA, since the beginning until its suspension (1994-2005). It is argued that although the incorporation of regionalism has generated growing domestic politicization of the foreign policy, this result did not mean advancement towards democratization of decision-making process in these two specific realms.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Este trabalho focaliza os fenômenos da politização da política externa e da luta pela democratização do seu processo decisório no que se refere às políticas deintegração regional de Argentina e Brasil, nos âmbitos do MERCOSUL e da ALCA. O objetivo principal é analisar, por um lado, os processos de liberalização política edemocratização do regime ocorridos nestes dois países entre os anos 1970 e 1980,e, por outro, as relações entre a incorporação do regionalismo às respectivas estratégias de inserção internacional e a politização da política externa, desde o finalda Guerra Fria. Considerando as controvérsias em torno do conceito de democracia,são discutidas as principais estratégias de análise encontradas na políticacomparada e as três principais perspectivas teóricas contemporâneas (realismo,pluralismo e deliberativismo). A análise empírica concentra-se em dois processos: a criação do MERCOSUL, desde suas origens até o final da fase de transição (1991-1994), e as negociações para a criação da ALCA, desde o seu lançamento até a suspensão (1994 2005). Argumenta-se que apesar da incorporação do regionalismo haver gerado um aumento da politização doméstica em torno da política externa, isto não significou, no entanto, qualquer avanço no sentido da democratização das decisões nestes âmbitos específicos / This work focuses on the phenomena of politicization of foreign policy and the struggle for democratization of its decision-making process, in what refers to the regional integration policies of Argentine and Brazil, in MERCOSUR and FTAA. The main objective is to analyze, in first place, the processes of political liberalization and regime transition occurred in these countries between the late 1970s and the early 1980s, and, secondly, the relation between the incorporation of regionalism in the respective international insertion strategies and the politicization of foreign policies since the end of the Cold War. Considering the controversies around the concept of democracy, this essay discusses the main analytical strategies found in comparative politics and the three main contemporary theoretical perspectives (realism, pluralism and deliberativism). The empirical analysis focuses in two processes: the creation of the MERCOSUR, from its origins to the end of its transition phase (1991-1994), and the negotiations to the establishment of the FTAA, since the beginning until its suspension (1994-2005). It is argued that although the incorporation of regionalism has generated growing domestic politicization of the foreign policy, this result did not mean advancement towards democratization of decision-making process in these two specific realms.

The content of this thesis is an analysis of North-South regionalism within the American continent. Specifically, the approach of the United States as a representative of developed countries and Latin American countries as representative of developing countries to the liberalization of mutual economic relations. Chapter one deals with the issue of North-South regionalism and approaches of the most developed countries to this type of liberalization. Chapter two analyses the attitude of the U.S. and Latin American to the liberalization of their relations. Chapter three describes the approaches of concrete Latin American countries (Chile, Venezuela, Brazil) with respect to their different economic and business strategies applied in their foreign policy.

L'objectif de ce mémoire est de jeter les bases d'un nouveau récit historique portant sur les relations internationales du Québec, en rupture partielle avec le récit traditionnel, essentiellement issu des écrits provenant de la science politique, qui décrit l'activité internationale du gouvernement québécois en cherchant dans les particularités de l'histoire québécoise elle-même les forces de changement. Ce faisant, nous tentons plutôt de montrer que l'histoire des relations internationales du Québec est inexorablement enchâssée dans l'histoire canadienne, dans l'histoire nord-américaine et surtout dans l'histoire du capitalisme et du néolibéralisme. Depuis le début de son existence en tant qu'entité politique moderne, le gouvernement québécois entretient des liens avec des gouvernements étrangers, l'intensité de ceux-ci étant function des grandes transformations affectant le système capitaliste international au grand complet. Vers la fin de la période 1867-1973, la politique internationale du gouvernement québécois est institutionnalisée politiquement et juridiquement grâce à la formulation de la doctrine Gérin-Lajoie, qui s'appuie sur les dispositions constitutionnelles propres au Canada pour élaborer la politique internationale québécoise. Dans la période 1973-1981, les relations internationales du Québec se focalisent davantage sur des questions économiques, telles que la quête de capitaux étrangers et la projection d'une image de marque positive sur les marchés étrangers. Puis, dans la période 1981-1994, l'activité internationale du Québec est marquée par le virage néolibéral qui affecte tous les gouvernements capitalistes dans le monde. Ainsi, l'appareil diplomatique du Québec est de plus en plus perçu comme un outil de promotion des exportations des entreprises québécoises et d'adaptation à l'augmentation de l'interdépendance économique, et de moins en moins comme un réseau de contacts politiques et culturels. Afin de faire cette démonstration, nous puisons essentiellement dans deux types de sources primaires : d'une part, des sources gouvernementales, dont les rapports annuels des différents ministères associés aux relations internationales du Québec et du Canada au fil de la période et les livres blancs de politique internationale qu'ils ont publié, et d'autre part, des publications issues du milieu des affaires, dont la revue Les Affaires, excellent baromètre de la mentalité dominante de la classe entrepreneuriale du Québec et du Canada francophone. / The objective of this thesis is to lay the foundations of a new narrative of the Quebec government's international relations, one distinct from the traditional account that emerged from the work of political scientists who have described the international activities of Quebec as essentially the product of its unique historical path. By contrast, this thesis aims to show that the history of Quebec's international relations must be understood as being embedded in the larger histories of Canada and North America, and especially in the histories of capitalism and neoliberalism. Since the beginning of its existence as a modern political entity, the Quebec government has nourished links with foreign governments, the intensity of which were determined by the transformations affecting the entire international capitalist order. Towards the end of the 1867-1973 period, the international policy of the Quebec government was institutionalized, both politically and juridically, through the formulation of the Gérin-Lajoie doctrine, which drew upon Canadian constitutional particularities as the basis of Quebec international policy. In the period framed by the 1972-73 and 1981-82 economic crises, Quebec's international relations focused increasingly on economic issues, notably the search for foreign investment and the projection of a positive brand image abroad. Then, in the period extending from the 1981-82 crisis to the conclusion of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, Quebec's international activity was transformed by the neoliberal shift affecting all of the world's capitalist governments. Thus, Quebec's diplomatic apparatus came to be perceived as a tool for the promotion of Quebec business exports and the adaptation to the rise of economic interdependence and free trade, and decreasingly, as a network of political and cultural diplomatic ties. To demonstrate this, this thesis is based upon two main bodies of primary sources: first, government publications such as the annual reports issued by the different ministries that have been associated with Quebec's and Canada's international relations throughout the period, notably the white papers that they published; and secondly, publications produced by the business community, mainly Les Affaires magazine, an excellent barometer of the dominant mentality of the Quebec and French-Canadian business class.