Food Superpower: From Pax Britannica to Pax Americana By Pailin Kittisereechai

Structure of presentation Theoretical framework: Critical International Political Economy Contents: - Pax Britannica (19th century – Early 20th century) - Pax Americana (post-WWII – present time) Conclusion: compare and contrast

Critical IPE The study of globalization, and indeed of contemporary world politics, is first and foremost the study of contemporary capitalism. Indeed, paraphrasing Horkheimer, one may say, those who do not want to talk about capitalism, should not talk about international relations, or globalization Fred Halliday - “The Pertinence of Imperialism,” in Historical Materialism and Globalization

Critical IPE Superpowers as the manager of the capitalistic economic system The system that: - promotes their interests - maintains their status - increase their power

Pax Britannica Great Britain as the center of capitalism Integrating many parts of the world into the capitalistic system by: - colonization - (unequal) treaty industrial capitalism and commercial capitalism

Pax Britannica Case studies: the control of rice producing and trading in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar) Siam: Bowring Treaty – 1855  changing pattern of agricultural production  land and labor reform Burma: colonization  higher level of capitalization  ethnic tension and the change of regime afterwards

Pax Americana U.S. as the center of capitalism since the end of WWII Development discourse and Bretton Woods System 1970s – turning point: from Keynesianism to Neo-liberalism Important actors: U.S. Government and transnational corporations

U.S. Agricultural export 2014 U.S. Agricultural export 150,466m$ 2014 14,000m$ 2014 34,895 m$ 2014 27,441 m$ 2014 17,910 m$

Pax Americana Institutions: domestic and international Innovation: - “Fast food” - Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)

Institution : rules, norms, regulations The power of corporations Institutions Institution : rules, norms, regulations The power of corporations Food lobbyists

A survey of American schoolchildren found that 96% could identify Ronald McDonald. The only fictional character with a higher degree of recognition was Santa Claus. Eric Schlosser

GMOs Food security VS Food sovereignty Is it safe to eat GM food? Intellectual Property Rights Terminator technology “You cannot insert a gene you took from bacteria into a seed and call it life. You have not created life, instead you have only polluted it.” Vandana Shiva

Conclusion The ability to control global food of both superpowers strengthened their power. Pax Britannica – direct control on trading and division of production Pax Americana – more subtle control to the level of consumer behaviors and ownerships