The 20th century ended with a proliferation of global and regional free trade and investment agreements aimed at breaking down obstacles and barriers to the movement of goods and capital. Since the beginning of the 21st century and even more after the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, however, things have begun to change. Foreign investment, in principle, continues to be welcome. However, suspicions and fears about foreign investments have gradually grown. To this have contributed, on the one hand, the weakening of traditional financial, industrial and social structures; on the other, China’s increasingly ambitious economic and geopolitical expansionism policy. In some countries, this distrust and fears have been wisely exploited at the political level and placed at the base of a more general neo-protectionist agenda, as demonstrated by the experience of the Trump administration. How it possible to reconcile the objective of attracting foreign investments and thus promoting economic development with the need to protect national security and strategic interests? The talk will answer this question by looking at the situation in the EU, the US, and China. With: Giulio Napolitano, Professor, Roma Tre University
New York City, NY; NYC