Institute for International Economic Policy

The IIEP Global Economic Governance in the 21st Century Initiative

Project on Trade Agreements and Internet Governance

The Internet Openness Metric Project
We are seeking feedback on the components of Internet openness/Internet freedom. Please review the proposal and provide comments.

The Project on Trade Agreements and Internet Governance (TAIG) examines how the U.S., EU, and Canada use trade agreements to govern the Internet and to advance Internet freedom/stability. This research is funded by the John and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and an anonymous donor.

The project is part of the Institute for International Economic Policy in the Elliott School for International Affairs at the George Washington University.

Please see our blog for news and commentary: tradeandinternet.wordpress.com

Events

March 22, 2013

Who is Bashing Whom: China, Cyber-Attack, Democracy, and Retaliation

View the event summary here.

December 6, 2012

TAIG hosted a free conference, "Can Trade Policies and Agreements Advance Internet Freedom," providing a wide range of insight into the potential and pitfalls of trade policy to regulate the Internet. Panels included: views from the US, EU, and Canada; a discussion of privacy, intellectual property rights, and Internet freedom; and new ideas to promote trade and Internet freedom. Lee Hibbard from the Council of Europe offered "A Human Rights Perspective", and Andrew McLaughlin of betaworks gave the luncheon keynote address on "The Future of Internet Freedom". The full agenda is available here in PDF. The conference benefited from the support of the John and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, the Software and Information Industry Association, the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at GWU, the National War College and the Minvera Initiative.

Our policy brief, "Can Trade Policy Set Information Free? Trade Agreements, Internet Governance, and Internet Freedom" is available here in PDF.

Dr. Aaronson's slides are embedded below (requires Flash).

We will post links to any reporting from the conference on our blog, tradeandinternet.wordpress.com, as they become available.

September 22, 2012

TAIG hosted a panel discussion titled "Can Trade Agreements Facilitate the Free Flow of Information: The Trans-Pacific Partnership as a Case Study" with support from the John and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association. A synopsis of the event is available here.

Research

An annotated bibliography of relevant documents and links is available here.

As our work progresses, we will post country summaries of Internet regulation and trade policy for the E.U, U.S., and Canada.

Staff

Susan Ariel Aaronson, Director

Susan Ariel Aaronson is Associate Research Professor at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs and the Minerva Research Fellow Faculty Chair (Minerva Chair) at the National War College. Susan is the author of 6 books and numerous articles on trade, human rights, corruption and development issues. She received her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.

K. Daniel Wang, Assistant Director