NAFTA and sovereignty : trade-offs for Canada, Mexico, and the United States /

This volume, organized in three sections ("Canada," "Mexico," and the "United States"), gives the reader an excellent view of three dissimilar perspectives on trade agreement-induced changes in national sovereignty. From a US citizen's point of view, the book is very illuminating. Analysts from both Canada and Mexico discuss what sovereignty means in their respective countries, and what the prospect of losing it means in cultural, political, and economic terms. Mexico's case is the most persuasive. Mexico is described as a nation "lacking national integration" but now possessing the capability to distribute information. Mexico's poor find giving up sovereignty under NAFTA of no importance. The rich, however, will resist it to the bitter end as foreign direct investment and IMF strictures rob them of their power to govern. There is no such dual economy in Canada, so most citizens worry about the possibility of complete cultural absorption into the US model. For the US, which is large and strong in the trade arena, signing trade agreements tends to limit US autonomy more than it does for smaller trading partners and raises questions about benefits to the US. The contributors ably explore the relevant issues and trade-offs for the partners of NAFTA. Graduate; faculty; professional. M. G. Ellis; New Mexico State University