Reevaluating NAFTA Theory and Practice

In examining NAFTA's 15-year performances empirically (asking if chapter-specific provisions/purposes were met or not), and theoretically (similarly asking to what extent regional economic integration theory tenets were fulfilled), the book finds North America resembling a spaghetti bowl: simultaneously retaining protectionist strains, building regional (collective) preferences, and seeking global extensions. Expanded trade (NAFTA Chapter 3), investment (Chapter 11), and rule-compliance (chapters, 19, 20, and the side-agreements) helped produce the longest 20th Century growth period in this region, but failed to eliminate hub-and-spoke and maquila production, leaving conspicuous developmental disparities; while foreign business penetration exposed unavoidable holes in traditional regionalism. Addressing policy-makers, scholars, and graduate students, the manuscript carries messages too relevant for every upwardly-mobile and downwardly-stranded citizens in Canada, Mexico, and the United States to ignore.

Imtiaz Hussain is Professor of International Relations in Mexico City's Universidad Iberoamericana, where he teaches International Relations, Negotiations, and Regional Integration Theories. His publications include The Impact of NAFTA on North America, and North American Homeland Security: Back to Bilateralism ? A recipient of several fellowships and teaching awards, he received his Political Science PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1989 and is from Bangladesh.

Nafta's Fifteen Year Itch

North American Economic Integration in Theoretical Context: Neo-Functionalism or not Functional? 

Investment: Sticky Fingers? 

Nafta's Dispute Settlement Mechanism: Designs, 15-Year Performances, Comparisons 

Nafta & Intellectual Property Rights 

Increasing Nafta Trade Trends: Incidental or Institutional? 

Pooling Empirical Observations: Nafta an Integrative Camelot? 

Players Under the Microscope 

Conclusions/Implications