Educational Objectives

The FTAA is a multifaceted topic, and instructors can use the simulation to convey any of a number of important concepts. Some instructors, for example, may prefer to highlight the FTAA's economic aspects; others may wish to highlight its social, environmental, or democratic implications. Some may choose a U.S.-centric perspective, while others may deliberately wish to avoid just such a perspective. This simulation allows instructors to make the crucial decisions about which concepts to emphasize. Nevertheless, let us spell out several important topics that are likely to prove valuable in most courses in international relations, international political economy, American foreign policy, comparative politics, or, more specifically, Latin American politics.

First, the simulation can help students grasp the merits and shortcomings of neo-liberal economic policies and their centrality to the Latin American political economy. For example, students will debate whether the FTAA is a zero-sum game skewed to the advantage of wealthier states or a positive-sum game in which there are more winners than losers. Second, the simulation can direct student discussion of the opportunities and risks of bi-lateral trade deals or sub-hemispheric regional trade agreements as opposed to the FTAA. Third, the simulation can also encourage students to consider the compatibility of international trade agreements on the one hand, and effective labor standards on the other. Fourth, similar evaluations may be made regarding trade agreements and environmental regulations. Fifth, the simulation can help stimulate debate over the degree of democratic accountability in free trade agreements (Sousa 2004). Sixth, the simulation highlights concepts of cooperation and regime building, illuminating the conditions necessary not only for cooperation between nations, but also the conditions necessary for the establishment of transnational trade rules and norms that will persist over time. Finally, the simulation can help students explore the dynamics of coalition formation and negotiating strategies; for example, in the simulation, students negotiate the policy preferences of two issues thus providing opportunities for logrolling.

Country Selection and Description of Stakeholders

Given the large numbers of countries involved in the FTAA negotiation (34 countries without Cuba), we recommend that instructors limit the number of countries utilized in the simulation. In this simulation, there are 11 stakeholders: 10 country groups and one civil society group to provide input for a number of non-governmental organizations from throughout the region. One to four students may represent the same country, depending on class size and the number of countries chosen. An advantage of having students work in small groups is that students can teach each other throughout the simulation's preparation phase and during the simulation itself. The instructor may allow students to choose a country that they would like to represent, but the instructor must ensure that very important countries, such as the U.S. and Brazil, are represented. In the selection of the countries, we recommend that priority be given to states from different regions (Central America, Caribbean, the Southern Cone and the Andes) and with different economic conditions so that students can obtain an understanding of the variety of regional and national contexts and how they affect the trade position of a respective nation. The 10 countries listed in Table 1 are indicative of a set of countries that reflect geographic and economic diversity.

List of Countries for the FTAA Simulation

Diversity in country selection is also important as it allows for the formation of coalitions as well as defections from proposed coalitions. For example, the members of the Southern Common Market, MERCOSUR—a customs union²

National representatives must focus on the concessions and pressures that hemispheric free trade can present. Their goal is to find the right set of proposals that would allow an agreement to succeed on both domestic and international levels (Putnam 1988). Thus, not only must the FTAA proposals be acceptable to other countries, they must also overcome domestic political pressures from farmers, labor unions, and domestic industries fearful of international free trade.

The non-state stakeholder in the simulation is the Civil Society Committee. A mechanism set up in the FTAA solicits and then delivers comments from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to the central negotiators through the Committee of Government Representatives on Civil Society established by the Trade Negotiations Committee of the FTAA. The committee is solely consultative, allowing NGOs, labor unions, and small- and medium-sized businesses an opportunity to comment on the issues involved in the FTAA negotiations. The committee may also comment on the impact of a final agreement and oversee its eventual implementation. According to the third draft agreement of the FTAA, agreed to in November 2003, the committee must “facilitate the formulation of positions, suggestions, contributions, and recommendations by civil society for the consideration of governments.”⁴

The establishment of such a committee in the simulation creates an opportunity for class discussion beyond the national pros and cons of regional trade agreements, allowing an exploration of the global social movement that has emerged in response to what some of these groups have referred to as “corporate globalization.” Students can research those groups that have successfully had their grievances, suggestions, and/or challenges considered by the negotiating governments.

Simulating Specific Provisions of the FTAA

The FTAA is being negotiated through regular ongoing meetings between trade representatives of the different governments, as well as through high-level “summits” in which the national executives of the different governments come together to discuss the progress of the agreement. In 1998, the 34 nations set up a Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), consisting of vice ministers of trade and foreign relations from every country, to administer the overall negotiating process. Its central purpose is to ensure that the negotiations of specific topics are consistent with the aim of a free trade and market area (Duquette and Rondeau 2004, 62). The negotiating process has been divided into nine separate “working groups” with responsibility over central elements of the FTAA, such as groups on agriculture, on intellectual property rights, and on market access. Since 1998, working groups have met on their respective issues every few months. The TNC has generally met several times a year, with trade ministers meeting once a year to review the progress of the negotiations.

The numerous issues that are addressed in a free trade agreement can overwhelm a scholar, let alone the average class of undergraduates. Thirteen separate issues are being negotiated in the FTAA (see Table 2), each encompassing a broad range of sub-issues that a researcher would have to examine in order to appreciate fully their complexity or prepare official positions in a class simulation.

FTAA Issues

In order to examine the FTAA in the time frame of one or two classes, we suggest that instructors restrict the simulation to specific provisions of the agreement. The simulations that we have run centered on agricultural policy and textiles,⁵

Organizing the Simulation

The instructor is the facilitator for the simulation, providing students general background information and suggestions for delegation work on restructuring plans, encouraging student interaction, and moderating the formal presentations of those plans. Member states have already adopted a draft FTAA plan, but final agreement has so far been unattainable. However, the agreement does explicate the objectives of the FTAA, specifically what those objectives are for specific issues. The instructor should have students view the latest draft agreements on the FTAA's web site, and specifically examine the chapters relevant to the issues chosen for the simulation.

Several practical arrangements should be made for the simulation to run as smoothly as possible. For example, it helps to have copies of all country profiles available for students (either as a handout or online through, say, Blackboard). If possible, students should be provided with laptops and/or access to a computer lab and a copier in order to type up and amend proposals. The instructor should make a placard for each participating country as well as one for the Civil Society Committee. If possible, the instructor should book a nearby empty room to serve as an extra location for some of the delegates to meet during one or more of the caucus sessions.

The simulation's voting rules can be quite simple since the students' objective is to reach a consensus in support of a final agreement on two key provisions, in this case agriculture and textiles policies. The declaration of the San José trade ministerial meeting in March 1998 stresses that a guiding principle for a final agreement is that all decisions must be reached by consensus (Duquette and Rondeau 2004, 63).

Preparing Students for the Simulation

The overall goal of the simulation is for students to develop, debate, and critically examine the proposals from, and expectations for, each country in the construction of the FTAA. As noted earlier, students should attempt to devise plans that would benefit their respective countries while simultaneously contributing to the building of a consensus in support of the FTAA. Once students have their assigned roles, they need to consider the potential benefits and risks to agreeing to the FTAA. They should consider the politics of their national leaders (pro or con FTAA), the level of opposition in their respective legislatures and/or in civil society, and any concessions that their country would require in order to agree to the specific provisions of the FTAA being proposed in the simulation.

To prepare students for these considerations, both the instructor and the students have work to do. For the instructor, in the weeks preceding the simulation, it is important to provide the essential background information necessary for students to appreciate the context of the proposed agreement. Such background information should include an examination of: free trade and protectionism, economic globalization, regional trade agreements, NAFTA and the FTAA, the major state and non-state actors that are relevant for the FTAA agreement, and some background on the divisions within Latin American states and between Latin America and the U.S. The instructor should also provide appropriate readings. Important journals that cover Latin American economic and political issues include Latin American Perspectives, Latin American Weekly Reports, Latin American Research Review, North American Congress on Latin America and Latin American Politics and Society. In addition, the Latin American Information Network Center (http://lanic.utexas.edu/) offers an excellent web site which provides detailed information on every country in the hemisphere. More potential sources are listed in Appendix 1.

For students to be well prepared for the simulation, we recommend grading student performance during the simulation. One simple method is to grade students using plusses or a zero depending on their oral contributions. Other grading schemes can be used prior to the simulation. For example, a simple quiz could ask country-specific questions such as GDP, population size, and general trade orientations (is your country likely to support FTAA? Does your country have a favorable trading relationship with the U.S.?).

In terms of pre-simulation student work, we also highly recommend a four- to six-page paper (double-spaced) to be completed a week or more before the simulation so that the instructor can provide a grade (and thus feedback) before the simulation. An early paper deadline could also provide an effective check on the quality of research being conducted. Since we recommend two or more students per country, this is a co-authored paper. The paper should include the following elements:

a) National policy preferences: For students to feel comfortable about their own country's attitudes toward FTAA, instructors should require students to consider political, social, and economic factors that influence their country's attitudes on the agriculture and textiles issues. Students should also be aware that lively debates may exist within their own country. In other words, their country's final approach toward FTAA is contingent on such things as trends in the health of the economy, the dynamics of opposing interest group pressures, or changes in the government itself. For example, support for FTAA suddenly became more questionable in Ecuador when anti-globalization protesters forced Ecuador's president out of office in April 2005 and in Bolivia when anti-globalization activist Evo Morales was elected president in January 2006.

b) Negotiating strategy: Aside from exploring the dynamics affecting national policy preferences, students should also explain in the paper what they—as representatives of their country—would like to see in an FTAA agreement. Some of the questions that students should consider include:

c) An opening statement: Part of the paper should include an opening statement (a half page to three quarters of a page but no longer) that is presented orally in the first phase of the simulation.

Students on the Civil Society Committee must also prepare an opening statement that addresses their particular concerns. Students should address questions such as the following: Does the committee have fundamental problems with free trade agreements? Under what conditions would it support FTAA? Which policies are considered central and tangential to the committee? The Civil Society Committee's paper, in contrast to the rest of the class, must address the policy preferences of one or more specific NGOs of their choosing.