PP Objectively: Legal, Economic, and National Security Dimensions of CPTPP
TPP Objectively: Legal, Economic, and National Security Dimensions of CPTPP,
by Raj Bhala (2nd edition, Carolina Academic Press, 2019)
ISBN: 978-1-5310-1429-2
Reviewed by Collins C Ajibo
 
The TPP-CPTPP constitutes an epoch-making mega-trade agreement, comparable only to the stalled Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the concluded Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), with massive incorporation of WTO-plus provisions and national security dimension. While TPP-CPTPP has spurred some publications,1 the TPP Objectively: Legal, Economic, and National Security Dimensions of CPTPP, by Raj Bhala, offers innovative, all-inclusive and insightful perspectives on the TPP, from the inception to conclusion, and from the US withdrawal to the aftermath that resulted in the suspension of 20 provisions and its consequential renaming to CPTPP. As the title indicates, the book objectively explores the pros and cons of TPP-CPTPP through legal, economic and national security lenses, highlighting the positive features and pondering over the missed opportunities reflected in the preoccupation with plutocratic interests; currency manipulation abandonment; and insufficient coverage of trade-related human rights. The preceding is crafted into the central theme espoused in the book, namely, that the TPP is not a free trade per se but a managed trade to foster plutocracy and national security.

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