Economic Development

The EU has been at the forefront of efforts to consider environmental and development issues in trade agreements. EU new generation agreements include a ‘Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) Chapter’ as a standard element whereby parties agree to various commitments on environmental and labour protection. But the EU’s approach came under severe criticism during…

The bicycle theory of trade suggests that the global trading system, much like a bicycle, must maintain steady momentum toward freer trade—any failure to move forward will condemn the multilateral system to topple over and fall due to pressures of protectionism. As the world's leading trading nation, the U.S. was traditionally seen as the key force…

Last week, the Trump administration sanctioned four judges of the International Criminal Court, who were subjected to an asset freeze and a travel ban simply for doing their job. Yesterday, the governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom sanctioned two extremist Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, for inciting violence and…

Advanced economies, and in particular China and the US, are engaging in a new technological arms race. China is trying to catch up technologically to the US and the US is doing everything it can to prevent that from happening. It perceives Chinese technological advances as a threat to its national security. Outbound investment screening mechanisms are the…