Chapter 11: Economic Statecraft

Exercises

Investigating Free Trade

1. Access the Web site of the Economic Policy Institute's research section on trade and globalization at http://epinet.org/subjectpages/trade.cfm .

2. Scan through some of the policy briefs and op-ed pieces.

3. What is the general stance of this nongovernmental organization? What general impressions does the EPI give regarding U.S. trade policy? What reforms does the EPI call for? How does the EPI write about NAFTA and free trade in general?

4. What are counterarguments to the EPI's views? (Hint--one such example is from the CATO Institute, www.freetrade.org .) If you were designing a project to counter EPI's arguments, what examples and evidence would you include?

Looking at Domestic Sources of U.S. Foreign Economic Policy

1. Access the Web site for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) at www.ustr.gov and locate the “Who we are” page.

2. Read through the mission statement and about the USTR's goals and organization (available through the “USTR Mission” link).

3. Report what the USTR says about trade policy goals and missions. Does the USTR fit better into the ideology of economic liberalism or nationalism? Why?

4. What new policies does the USTR discuss and promote? Are they related to security policy?

5. What countries and regions are discussed at length? How does this relate to what you know about the Clinton and Bush Doctrines?

Examining U.S. Foreign Aid

1. Access the Web site for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) at www.usaid.gov and go to the Policy section.

2. Browse through this section of the site for information on the missions, policy recommendations, and connections between aid programs and broader U.S. national interests.

3. What types of aid programs does the U.S. utilize? What countries are discussed the most in this section? What is the general policy process for aid funding through the USAID?

4. What national interests are identified as key to the USAID? How does the USAID indicate that foreign aid achieves these goals, missions, and interests?

5. Using the “Green Book” online ( http://qesdb.usaid.gov/gbk/ ), investigate countries, regions, and programs. Which countries and regions receive the most funding? Which receive the least?