One way to make sense of the current world is to measure the progress of rules-based order versus coercion-based disorder. The latter category includes the collapse of state structures in the Middle East at the hands of violent extremists, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China’s territorial revisionism in maritime Asia. If final negotiations in Atlanta this week are successful, the former category will include agreement on a new Trans-Pacific Partnership that liberalizes trade and investment among 12 economies comprising 40% of global gross domestic product, 30% of global exports, and 25% of global imports.
The forces …read more