Friends,

Apologies if it seems like you are being barraged by e-mails.  When we met in Gent, I made reference to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the U.S. effort to create the world’s most intense free trade area, in part to wed Korea, Japan and other Asia-Pacific nations – but NOT China – not only to the U.S. economy, but to further integrate these societies. I also made reference to a recent report about U.S. plans to negotiate a “Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.”  As you will see from the following excerpt from U.S. National Security Advisor Donilon’s March 11 speech on U.S. Asia-Pacific policies, the White House sees these two initiatives as being linked, strategic, and clearly related to NATO.

For your reading pleasure:

The TPP is part of a global economic agenda that includes the new agreement we are pursuing with Europe—the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Transatlantic trade is nearly one trillion dollars each year, with $3.7 trillion in investments. Even small improvements can yield substantial benefits for our people. Taken together, these two agreements—from the Atlantic to the Pacific—and our existing Free Trade Agreements, around the world could account for over sixty percent of world trade. But our goals are strategic as well as economic. Many have argued that economic strength is the currency of power in the twenty-first century. And across the Atlantic and Pacific, the United States will aim to build a network of economic partnerships as strong as our diplomatic and security alliances—all while strengthening the multilateral trading system. The TPP is also an absolute statement of U.S. strategic commitment to be in the Asia-Pacific for the long haul. And the growth arising from a U.S.-Europe agreement will help underwrite NATO, the most powerful alliance in history. (emphasis added)

All best wishes,

Joseph