"China is not a part of TPP" Obama at presser live right now

[zipplewrath]

27. Alot of clothing comes out of that region

Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh are all involved in the clothing industry already. It hasn't made them more peaceful. India is highly engaged in international commerce, yet they are sucked into the regional conflicts constantly. I just don't see that you (or Obama) can make a case that a trade treaty that ensure intellectual rights of corporations is going to particularly change the security situation there. Quite the opposite, there are loads of examples how engaging the west in commerce has enriched the oligarchs/dictators and allowed them to maintain power.

Heck, engaging China is HUGE amounts of commerce hasn't made them less hostile, if anything it has made them more aggressive (although I don't think there is actually any connection at all).

History has a dearth of examples of imperial powers like the US being able to change the social/political realities in other countries and cultures. Claiming that a treaty written primarily by international/multinational corporations whose focus is upon mechanisms for enforcing intellectual property rights, and restricting countries from interfering with their investments INSIDE the country is hard to defend by any historical example. Not that Obama has ever tried. Mostly he has just attacked his critics.