February 2017 – Page 4 – Globalization: Are You In or Are You Out?

U.S., China military planes come inadvertently close over South China Sea

Reuters reports that U.S. Navy P-3 plane and a Chinese military aircraft had a close encounter over the South China Sea. U.S. Pacific Command said that the U.S aircraft was on an “routine mission operating in accordance to international law.” It is unclear which law that refers to.

However, in the situation with the South China Sea, one international law in regards to maritime territory is the 1982 United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This provided guidelines and rules on boundaries, sea trade, and management of marine natural resources for countries. As this Mic article, “Why Trump’s China policy is dangerous for the Pacific Region and the U.S.,” points out, the United States did not signed this agreement but observes the laws in UNCLOS. According to UNCLOS, a country’s maritime boundary is 12 nautical miles from its shore. The South China Sea is beyond China’s boundaries.

China did sign UNCLOS even though it now realizes this agreement does not favor them as described in this The Diplomat article, “China and UNCLOS: An Inconvenient History.”

Other countries had conflicts with China over the South China Sea. The Phillippines had successfully brought an arbitration case against China in July 2016, in which the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hauge ruled that the Chinese activities in the South China Sea are illegal. Despite the decision against China, China ignore it and still continues to build on the South China Sea. The New York Times article, “Tribunal Rejects Beijing’s Claims in South China Sea,” suggests that the decision only opens more room for discussions and negotiations.

What can stop China from building in the South China Seas if international law and arbitration has proven ineffective in stopping China?

The UN would not be able to do anything about this because China sits on the security council and will veto any resolution. The countries in that surrounding area are smaller than China and the military is not as large as China’s. The United States have a military presence in the Pacific Ocean as a result of WWII.

Does China actually have a right in the South China Sea? If they do, what international law will justify that when the ruling clearly states that China has no justification?

Op-eds for and against TPP/global trade

The tragedy of killing TPP
This article outlines the benefits of global trade and even advocates for a worldwide trade plan involving every country on the planet. It includes pretty amazing statistics about how he believes Americans and others could have benefited from TPP.

The truth about trade
This article is older but provides a more nuanced explanation of the trade agreement and global trade agreements in general. It is written by Jeff Sachs, who we spoke about briefly last class. He is much more critical of the deal.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power’s Full Speech at the Security Council

This is the statement I mentioned in class.

Leaders of Brazil and Argentina discuss Mercosur

Trump Tough Talk Pushes Argentina, Brazil to Embrace Trade

Brazil and Argentina are hoping to restructure Mercosur as the result of a “global reassessment of trade deals prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump.” This article gives a pretty grim overview of the agreement itself, and suggests reform is unlikely. Mercosur and the EU have been in talks since 1999 but have not struck a deal yet.

Off-Shore Wind Farms in Transnational Spaces

The Danish company, Dong Energy, just installed 32 wind turbines off the coast of Liverpool, England. Wind turbines face criticism on land as being an eye sore, so they’re increasingly being installed off-shore by multinational companies like Mitsubishi, GE, Siemens, and Dong Energy. This intersection of energy and infrastructure, coastlines, and land involve regional, state, local, and corporate actors.

Off-shore wind energy is a growing source of renewable energy as technology improves and costs decline, attracting investors from global banks like Goldman Sachs to pension funds like PensionDanmark. The geography of Britain, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands are prime areas for off-shore wind turbines. If these developments continue, Northern Europe will continue its leadership role in implementing renewable energy sources across borders.

Frederica, Boris, Vlad–and the Donald

The European Union usually needs Washington to stiffen its backbone–but not these days. Meeting in Brussels on Monday, EU foreign ministers vowed to keep economic sanctions on Russia until Vladimir Putin gets serious about a ceasefire in Ukraine and pulls back his heavy weapons from the border.

“I cannot say where the U.S. administration stands on this, but I can say where the Europeans stand on this,” the EU’s foreign policy chief, Frederica Mogherini, told reporters after the meeting. Even Britain’s EU-hating/Putin-admiring Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, claimed to be on board: “The U.K. will be insisting that there is no case for the relaxation of the sanctions, every case for keeping up the pressure on Russia.”

Putin may be counting on his new BFF Donald Trump to bail him out. But the economic realities are hard to ignore. Before it decided to invade Ukraine and annex Crimea Russia did a lot more business with Europe than it did with the US. Vlad can’t live on love alone–at least not forever.

China’s Intelligent Weaponry Gets Smarter

China’s technology and artificial intelligence development is making significant progress that the United States has undermined. The United States has always assumed they are in the lead in technological advances. According to the article, “Andrew Ng, chief scientist at Baidu, said the United States may be too myopic and self-confident to understand the speed of the Chinese competition.”

While in the past, most defense technology has been developed by the government. Most advanced technology now is being but private technology companies. While Chinese companies have a relationship with the Chinese government, American companies cannot do same.”But if you’re thinking about the big, iconic tech companies, they can’t become defense contractors and still expect to get access to the Chinese market.”

This article is an example of the US losing some of its power and China is quickly expanding its power.

“This Is What A Refugee Looks Like”

This video series by Nicholas Kristof, New York Times columnist, shares the stories of refugees all over the world. It really puts things into perspective, especially given the current state of the world and Trump’s recent policies aimed at banning refugees from entering the U.S.

U.S.-Australia Relations and the Impact of Trump’s Refugee Policies

This New York Times article discusses a recent phone call between President Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull which illustrates the impact that Trump’s refugee policies are having both at home and abroad. The reportedly tense phone call was over a previous agreement by the Obama administration for the U.S. to accept 1,250 refugees being detained on Manus Island. A rift with Australia, one the United States’ longstanding allies, could be detrimental for international relations. Trump openly expressed his anger over Twitter and tweeted that he would review the “dumb” deal. Although Australia stated that the U.S. has agreed to uphold the agreement, what impact will Trump’s policies and twitter “rants” continue to have on U.S. foreign relations?

Americans Cite Cyberterrorism Among Top Three Threats to U.S

The United Stated and president Trump’s administration survive substantial challenges :international terrorism ,nuclear weapons and global warming as three critical issues .I read in this article that one of the most critical issues is cyberterrorism that means” the use of computers to disrupt or fear the society”. Americans view this issue as a threat to the United States for the next 10 years that needs quick responses from the new administration.