Publication

After the terrorist attacks against the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, a U.S. objective became, in the words of U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick, to fight terrorism by “spreading the message of prosperity and democracy throughout the world.”1 One way the Bush Administration chose to spread that message was through a proposed Middle East Free Trade Agreement (MEFTA). The purpose of this report is to describe MEFTA in terms of: (1) its impetus, (2) its major elements; (3) background trade data, (4) details; and (5) arguments for each.