International Relations - POSC 292 Resource Guide

The concept of fair trade carries an implicit critique of the unfairness associated with the conventional North-South trade system and the proposition that an alternative fairer trade system is possible.

In modern usage, trade or commerce carried on without such restrictions as import duties, export bounties, domestic production subsidies, trade quotas, or import licenses.

The bringing together of different parts of the world into one economic system, in which the separate areas are interdependent. Towards the end of the Second World War the great powers were planning for the future and were determined that there should not be another Great Depression like that in the 1930s, when the international trading and financial system broke down. The US was the dominant voice and at Bretton Woods (1944) set up the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank, both under US control, to promote international investment and exchange rate stability and to deal with balance of payments problems. GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), established in 1947, reduced tariffs and began an era of free trade.

The global economy has changed in very significant ways during the past several decades, and these changes are rooted in how the global economy is organized and governed. These transformations affect not only the flows of goods and services across national borders, but also the implications of these processes for how countries move up (or down) in the international system.

Company or enterprise operating in several countries, usually defined as one that has 25% or more of its output capacity located outside its country of origin.

The EU is a unique economic and political partnership between 27 European countries that together cover much of the continent.

he International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 188 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.

Consists of five organizations.