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The Armenian Center for National and International Studies

World Public Favors Globalization and Trade but Wants to Protect Environment
and Jobs

April 26, 2007, 14:00 GMT
Contact, International Findings:
Steven Kull, 202-232-7500
Christopher Whitney, 312-451-1040

April 26, 2007, Yerevan, 19:00
Contact, Armenia Findings:
Stepan Safarian, 37410-528-780
Syuzanna Barseghian, 37410-274-818

Yerevan — The Armenian Center for National and International Studies
(ACNIS) today convened a roundtable discussion to present the results
of the fifth in a series of reports based on a poll of worldwide
opinion on key global issues. The report was devoted to globalization
and trade. The meeting brought together citizens, members of leading
think tanks, analysts, and media representatives.

ACNIS director of research Stepan Safarian delivered opening remarks.
"Armenia, just like the rest of the world, is not immune from the
effects of globalization," he said. "Having already recognized the
positive results of globalization, Armenian society is now seeking
protection from its adverse consequences: issues of environment,
working conditions, and job security." ACNIS analyst Syuzanna
Barseghian then presented survey results.

Majorities around the world believe economic globalization and
international trade benefit national economies, companies, and
consumers. But many think trade harms the environment and threatens
jobs and want to mitigate these effects with environmental and labor
standards.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and WorldPublicOpinion.org, in
cooperation with polling organizations around the world, conducted the
survey in countries representing 56 percent of the world’s population:
China, India, the United States, Indonesia, France, Russia, Thailand,
Ukraine, Poland, Iran, Mexico, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia,
Argentina, Peru, Israel, Armenia–and the Palestinian territories.

This is the fifth in a series of reports based on the global poll’s
findings that analyze international attitudes on key issues. Not all
questions were asked in all countries.

Support for globalization is remarkably strong throughout the world.
Seventeen countries plus the Palestinian territories were asked if
"globalization, especially increasing connections of our economy
with others around the world, is mostly good or mostly bad" for their
country. In every case positive answers outweigh negative ones.

"These findings clearly show that publics in both the developed
and developing worlds view globalization and international trade as
net positive forces," says Christopher Whitney, executive director
for studies at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. "This may
strengthen the political will to further deepen trade through market
liberalization."

The highest levels of support are found in countries with
export-oriented economies: China (87%), South Korea (86%) and Israel
(82%). In the United States, 60 percent think globalization is mostly
good and 35 percent call it mostly bad.

There is an even stronger consensus around trade’s positive impact
on national economies. Respondents in 14 countries were asked
whether trade was good or bad for their economy. In all of them,
majorities reply that it is good. The highest levels of approval are
in China (88%), Israel (88%), South Korea (79%), and Thailand (79%).
The highest negative views, though still held by minorities, are found
in the United States (42%), France (34%), Mexico (27%) and India (27%).

Majorities in nearly all of the countries polled also consider trade
good for their country’s companies, consumers and their standard
of living.

But respondents around the world express concern about the effect of
trade on the environment. In four countries, the idea that trade is
bad for the environment is the most common view: France (66% bad, 29%
good), the United States (49% bad, 45% good), Argentina (46% bad, 27%
good), and Russia (44% bad, 25% good). Opinion is divided in Armenia
(36% bad, 37% good,), Mexico (41% bad, 41% good), and South Korea
(49% bad, 47% good).

One way to mitigate the potentially negative impact of trade on the
environment is to require minimum environmental standards as part of
trade agreements. Large majorities in all 10 countries asked–ranging
between 60 percent and 93 percent–say that trade agreements should
include "minimum standards for protection of the environment." Those
in favor include two of the world’s largest developing economies: China
and India. The Chinese favor environmental protections by 85 percent
to 8 percent and the Indians endorse them by 60 percent to 28 percent.

There is also concern about the effect of trade on employment,
especially in more developed countries. Eighty percent of French
respondents believe trade has a negative impact on job security in
their country and 73 percent think it is also bad for the creation of
jobs there. In the United States, 67 percent consider trade harmful
for U.S. workers’ job security and 60 percent call it detrimental
for job creation.

One way to allay concerns about job losses in developed countries is
to require trade agreements to include minimum standards on working
conditions, thus avoiding a "race to the bottom" in search of lower
costs abroad. Respondents in developed countries, not surprisingly,
overwhelmingly support including such labor standards in international
trade agreements, including nine out of ten respondents in the United
States (93%), Israel (91%), Argentina (89%), and Poland (88%).

But adding labor protections to trade agreements also receives strong
support in many less developed countries that are known for low-cost
labor markets. In China, 84 percent favor them as do majorities in
Mexico (67%), India (56%) and the Philippines (55%).

This is contrary to the widespread assumption that laborers in
developing countries would oppose the imposition of higher standards
because they desire the competitive advantages derived from lower
labor costs. It is possible that the requirement of higher standards
is attractive because it generates outside pressure to improve working
conditions in their countries.

"It is clear is that publics around the world support the growth of
trade," said Steven Kull, editor of WorldPublicOpinion.org. "But it
is also clear that many are looking for ways to soften its disruptive
impact on the environment and jobs by including environmental and
labor standards in trade agreements."

For details, please see or
WorldPublicOpinion.org is a publication
of the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University
of Maryland. For the Armenian version, visit

Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors, ACNIS
serves as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy
challenges facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet
world. It also aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic
thinking and a wider understanding of the new global environment. In
2007, the Center focuses primarily on civic education, democratic
development, conflict resolution, and applied research on critical
domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the nation.

For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or
27-48-18; fax (37410) 52-48-46; email root@acnis.am or info@acnis.am;
or visit