Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved The United Nations (UN)  The UN is possibly the best- known worldwide organization  Established at the end of WWII  Mission peacekeeping Created many international entities around the world Highly decentralized 4-3

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved United Nations Bodies  UN work carried out through five main bodies  The General Assembly  The Security Council  The Economic and Social Council  The International Court of Justice  The Secretariat 4-4

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved History of Global International Trade  GATT  Established in 1947, negotiations are conducted in “rounds”  1947 to 1986, eight “rounds” have taken place  Uruguay Round highly successful  January 1, 1995, the WTO replaced GATT  World Trade Organization  Designed to deal with rules of trade between nations  Currently 147 members  Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland  Challenges  World Trade Agreements  Protests and demonstrations  Relies on goodwill 4-10

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development  OECD  Rich man’s club  30 wealthiest nations  Publishes extensive research on international business and economic subjects  Members work to coordinate domestic and international policies 4-11

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC )  Eleven member nations  Most members are in the Middle East  Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates  Three members are in Africa  Algeria, Libya, and Nigeria  Two members are elsewhere in the world  Indonesia and Venezuela  Non-OPEC oil producing countries  Mexico, Norway, Russia and the United Kingdom 4-12

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Economic and Political Integration  Free Trade Area  Tariffs are abolished among members-countries  Each member-country maintains its own external tariffs on imports from nonmember countries  Customs Union  A Free Trade Area where member-countries add a common external tariff  Common Market  A Customs Union plus the abolition of restrictions on the mobility of capital and labor among member- countries  Complete Economic Integration  Involves a high degree of political integration as member-countries surrender important elements of their sovereignty 4-13

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved European Union  A supernatural entity, meaning that it is a regional government  In order to join the EU, member-nations give a certain amount of their sovereignty to the EU  “Fortress Europe”  Currently 25 members  Ten new members in 2004  The largest import and export market in the world 4-15

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Institutions of the EU European Commission Guardian of the Treaty Brussels, Belgium Council of Ministers Policy-setting institution Representative from each country Parliament of the EU Elected by popular vote every 5 years Strasbourg, France 732 members European Court of Justice Decides Treaty of Rome cases 4-16

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved The European Monetary Union (EMU)  Twelve EU nations currently participate in the EMU  The 12 participating member-nations make up an area often called the “euro zone”  The three countries that do not participate are Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom  The EMU created a new currency, the euro, which became the official currency of the euro zone countries on January 1,

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved North American Free Trade Agreement  Established on January 1, 1994  Created a free trade area among Canada, Mexico, and the United States  Purpose is to eliminate trade barriers among the three countries, creating a free trade area  Import duties have been eliminated or reduced among the three countries 4-20

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Other Regional Groupings Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Created in 1967 Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam European Free Trade Association (EFTA ) Created in 1960 Most now members of EU 4-21 African Trade Agreements Economic Community of West African States Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Southern African Development Community The African Union Central American Free Trade Agreement

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Other Regional Agreements  Organization of American States  An organization of 35 countries formed in 1948 in the Western Hemisphere, dedicated to promoting cooperation in the region  Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation  Established in 1989 in response to the growing response of the economies of Pacific Rim countries  Mercosur  Created in 1991, this economic FTA consists of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay 4-22

Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved WTO Facts Location: Geneva, Switzerland Established: 1 January 1995 Created by: Uruguay Round negotiations ( ) Membership: 147 countries (on 23 April 2004) Budget: 162 million Swiss francs for 2004 Secretariat staff: 600 Head: Supachai Panitchpakdi (director- general  Functions:  Administering WTO trade agreements  Forum for trade negotiations  Handling trade disputes  Monitoring national trade policies  Technical assistance and training for developing countries  Cooperation with other international organizations