Did the New York Times establish a position on MAI, Nov. 28th. The newspaper appears to have revealed its position within an article concerning N.G.O.'s (non-governmental organizations) and their relationship to war powers of governments. The Times did not mention the agreement by name, but it's unmistakable, and U.S. newspapers seem to go out of their way to avoid discussing it.
Recall that the NAFTA passed by a very narrow margin, and crucial information was left unreported until after the vote. Earlier this year, Preamble's extensive bibliography cited only a couple letters to the editor appearing in the Times, meaning the paper did not feel the MAI was among "All the News That's Fit to Print" as they say, so democracy is a "problem" according to the Times. I will post if any searches that show the paper covered MAI to date.
(Just looked, maybe this one from Preamble's bibliography, but reporting seems to fall very short: "Uchitelle, Louis. "International Business — Global Tug, National Tether; As Companies Look Overseas, Governments Hold the Strings." The New York Times, April 30, 1998, p. D1.")
"Military Intervention isn't the only problem posed by the nongovernmental groups. Stephen J. Korbrin of the Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies wrote in Foreign Policy this fall how a little known N.G.O. called the Preamble Collaberative mobilized some 600 other private organizations against a planned agreement among 29 industrialized governments to facilitate foreign investment around the world. Mr. Korbin said that the projections underlying the Preamble's charge - that the agreement gave business too much power - were "barely credible worse-case scenarios."
Mark Weisbrot, the Preamble's research director, maintains that "the agreement would have given foreign investors new rights against governments without imposing any additional obligations." (New York Times, 28 November 1998, pg. A21)
Preamble site:
preamble.org
ps I am not not interested in other info. Preamble carries on its site in case anyone visits that MAI source. I am interested in the MAI and related arrangements concerning trade and financial architecture.
|
