The Geopolitical Implications of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

This brief argues that a transatlantic free trade pact would have significant geopolitical implications. In particular, TTIP, by creating jobs and stimulating growth, would help revitalize the Western democracies and advance the prospects for the West’s reclamation of political and strategic purpose. TTIP could, however, potentially have significant geopolitical downsides. The more ambitious and exclusive the “club” constituted by the Atlantic democracies, the higher the barriers to entry, and the less likely it is that emerging powers will want or be able to play by Western rules. The pact’s overall economic and geopolitical effects are definitively positive. Nonetheless, it is important for the Atlantic democracies to proceed with eyes wide open.