Michele RIOUX

In the last 75 years of international economic cooperation, we have witnessed tremendous changes. The global trade and investment regime is under pressure and undergoing a significant transformation. Supply chains are being restructured, new trade blocks are forming based on strategic and political considerations, support for trade among citizens is weak and inconsistent, and populist opposition to the global economic and political order is ascendant. In this time of uncertainty about the future of the world order, the articles for this thematic issue address how and if the global trade and investment regime can be re-embedded into society.

The North American Free Trade Agreement, (NAFTA) aims to create a unified North American market. Whether or not such a project is to be beneficial to the participating countriesand to the world economy as a wholeis a controversial issue. Much of the present debate surrounding NAFTA focuses on the uncertainty of NAFTA's viability, appropriateness, and benefits.f Is NAFTA part of a general process of trade liberalization or conducive to the construction of an economic bloc which, as Bergstensuggested, could provoke economic rivalry between the great powers?6 In the economic literature as well as within the international community, there has always been some unease surrounding regional economic agreements." Agreements like NAFTA, represent important departures from the mostfavoured-nation and non-discrimination principles; they are potentially detrimental to third countries through their discriminatory effects;8 they introduce additional elements of administered trade and prot...

The digital revolution has fundamentally altered the way in which cultural goods and services are produced, distributed and accessed. Indeed, the accelerated expansion of social networks and user generated content (UGC), the explosion of data created by cloud computing and the proliferation of connected multimedia devices – smartphones, tablets, phablets, e-readers – in the hands of the users have had a huge impact on the cultural scene, in both the global North and South. Technological changes have led to the emergence of new players and new logics.

La Convention sur la protection et la promotion de la diversité des expressions culturelles (CDEC) de l’Organisation des Nations unies pour l’éducation, la science et la culture (UNESCO) fait face à d’importants enjeux et défis posés par l’environnement numérique qui a beaucoup évolué une décennie après l’adoption de cet instrument juridique international. Ce texte analyse comment les parties à la Convention se sont mobilisées au cours des dernières années autour de la question de l’impact du numérique sur l’application de la CDEC. Il met particulièrement en lumière la stratégie de sensibilisation et le plaidoyer mené par la France, le Québec et le Canada tant sur la scène internationale (notamment à l’UNESCO) qu’aux niveaux nationaux et locaux, pour une meilleure adaptation des politiques et mesures visant la protection et la promotion de la diversité des expressions culturelles à l’ère du numérique. Notre analyse conclut sur les apports potentiels de l’adoption d’une directive opé...

Bringing together, in a common and single space, a continent characterized by such diversity and extraordinary asymmetries, is not an easy task. The Americas are still composed of different spaces, countries, cultures and societies not yet sharing a common sense of destiny. But if there is no single "America", a new regionalism has emerged and represents a roadmap to a new governance framework implying the deepening of liberal economic and institutional reforms. Resistance and obstacles remain numerous and perhaps the biggest challenge is to address the complex issues related to North-South integration within the hemisphere and the hegemonic position of the United States. If the process of "Building the Americas" can be depicted as an attempt to define governance in an era of market-led integration, the paradox is that its eventual success depends on its capacity to transcend the immediate commercial and trade orientations and create a true Community of Democraci...

Dans la première partie, nous présenterons les positions respectives des défenseurs de la coopération et de la concurrence fiscale. La seconde partie portera sur les formes multiples que prend la coopération internationale dans le domaine de la fiscalité. Nous identifierons trois niveaux de coopération, en fonction du degré d’autorité qu’acceptent de déléguer les acteurs, soit : le niveau global, le niveau multilatéral et le niveau bilatéral. Nous verrons que, des trois niveaux, c’est le second, le multilatéralisme, qui apparaît comme le niveau le plus « raisonnable » dans le sens où il permet de protéger l’autonomie fiscale tout en contenant les dérives et les excès. La troisième partie, enfin, portera sur le triangle impossible de la coopération. Inspiré du triangle monétaire de Mundel, le triangle a quelque chose de diabolique en ce sens qu’il oblige les gouvernements à arbitrer et à ne retenir que deux options sur trois. Nous reprendrons les trois modèles pertinents de multilaté...

L'élément radicalement nouveau des débats sur Ia concurrence est qu'il neconvient plus d'aborder celle-ci dans une perspective différente selon que l'on se place au niveau international ou au niveau national. Cet article revient, dans les deux premières sections, sur le double dilemme qui découle des croisements théoriques des perspectives nationales et internationales. Tout d'abord, si la concurrence internationale tend à réduire la rigueur concurrentielle nécessaire à l'échelle nationale, comment les marchés internationaux peuvent-ils être et demeurer concurrentiels alors que les marchés nationaux ne le sont pas ? Ensuite, comment établir des règles de concurrence lorsque les pratiques anticoncurrentielles échappent de plus en plus aux lois nationales et que les gouvernements sont eux-mêmes engagés dans des stratèges compétitives souvent irréconciliables avec le contrôle des pratiques anticoncurrentielles ? Cette discussion débouche sur un problème institut...

Virally Michel, Forschungsstelle für Politische Wissenschaft (Université de Zurich). Le rôle des organisations internationales dans l'atténuation et le règlement des crises internationales. In: Politique étrangère, n°6 - 1976 - 41ᵉannée. pp. 529-562

Canada's diplomacy since the enactment of the North American free trade agreement (NAFTA) has been marked by a double movement, strengthening relations with the United States and loosening ties with Europe. Unlike the United States, however, Canada is now showing great interest in securing a trade agreement with Europe.1 In 2009, following 10 years of negotiations, Canada reached a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association. For its part, the EU, which had initially shown little interest in an agreement with Canada, agreed to begin negotiations, which began their sixth round in January 2011. It is now expected that this agreement, called the comprehensive economic and trade agreement, or CETA, could be finalized and signed in 2 o 11.Canada has many good reasons to look for a strengthened trade partnership with the EU. Business communities support it, and Canada has always considered Europe a partner to counterbalance US influence and reduce its dependence on its powerful southern neighbour. The recent economic crisis that emerged in the United States, and its impact on Canada and the rest ofthe world, is a further inducement to revive ties with Europe. Yet the two most important reasons for the Canadian initiative are found in the weakening of NAFTA and the difficulty Canada has in finding its place in a world in which free trade agreements are proliferating, particularly in Asia. These phenomena force Canada to rethink its strategy in developing a competitive economy, its privileged relationship with the United States, and the international economic policy it should adopt to avoid being marginalized in a rapidly changing global economy.The multilateral route traditionally favoured by Canada is currently blocked, as are such regional projects as the free trade area ofthe Americas or Asia-Pacific economic cooperation. With NAFTA showing signs of weakness, Canada is looking for new bilateral partners but it is struggling to find worthy interlocutors. Asia is far away, and despite increasing trade flows with China, a trade agreement with the latter seems out of reach. It is in this context that Canada is attempting to revive economic and political ties with Europe.While a Canada-EU comprehensive trade agreement seems within reach, this recurrent transatlantic theme is reminiscent of someone (read Canada) frantically pushing on the replay button in a desperate attempt to trigger some new dynamics, without ever succeeding. Although Canada enjoys good relations with the EU, it does not constitute a priority for Europe, which is a global economic player much like the United States. One can wonder whether the interest and political will are strong enough for the EU and, if so, what negotiating clout Canada could display to reach a favourable agreement in this asymmetric situation. One can also wonder if this new "Europeanization" policy is genuine or if Canada's efforts to revitalize its relationship with the EU have more to do with the fact that it is looking to find an alternative to a stalling NAFTA model and reduce its dependence on the United States. Political and structural differences may ultimately prove insurmountable, as Canada has embraced the NAFTA regulatory model and a CETA could therefore trigger a clash between two irreconcilable approaches to economic regulation. These are this article's main arguments, which we divide into three parts: an overview ofthe stalling NAFTA model; a discussion ofthe options available to Canada; and the economic, political, and strategic issues involved in a CETA with Europe.A STALLING NAFTASince the mid 1980s, there has been political consensus in Canada on three points: the relationship between trade openness and competitiveness, the link between a thriving national economy and the international competitiveness of firms, and the prioritization of bilateral relations with the United States. Disagreements exist, however, on the way to link domestic economic policy with foreign trade policy, especially to ensure the growth of productivity, as well as to the place, within Canadian trade policy, of countries other than the US. …

Michèle Rioux, Olivier Dagenais, « Le rôle des organisations internationales dans la gouvernance d’Internet et des secteurs numériques », Hors-série - Décembre 2021, 22 décembre 2021, Revue québécoise de droit international, https://www.sqdi.org/fr/le-role-des-organisations-internationales-dans-la-gouvernance-dinternet-et-des-secteurs-numeriques/

Multinational corporations (MNCs) have become the most powerful drivers of integration and structural changes in today’s global economy. MNCs have not completely subordinated States and markets in shaping the global economy, but they have transformed the world and given rise to a new set of economic, political, social, cultural and legal problems. Yet, quite ironically, MNCs are now facing a recombination that tends to subordinate them to transnational networks of corporate economic power. The thorny issue of regulating the global economy is, in this context, even more complex as regulatory systems of global governance must be built to fit those transnational networks superseding States and firms. This article presents an overview of the most important theories in international political economy on MNCs in order to situate the new theoretical challenges pertaining to the understanding of contemporary structural changes in the world economy and their incidences on global governance. ...

Page 1. FALLACIES OF UNREGULATED GLOBAL TELECOM MARKETS Michèle Rioux1 Extraordinary transformations having great impacts on the world economy and the post-war international economic order have occurred since the 1970s. These transformations have ...