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A Case for International Cooperation in the Red River Basin
2007-11-04
There is a growing recognition among rural communities and regions that new responses to the economic problems they face must be developed. The old development strategies of industrial recruitment and brush stroke technical assistance to local businesses, while effective in the 1970s and 1980s, have become limiting strategies for the 1990s. As businesses adjust to a rapidly changing marketplace and become more integrated into the global economy, so must local, regional and state economic development programs.
Our world of nation-states is quickly becoming a global village. Once the purview of nations, international trade is now a critical part of any state, region or community's development strategy. Two recent trends are changing the global landscape. First is the emergence of continental trading blocks like the European Community, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation process, or the much talked about North American Common Market. Second is the emergence of regional trading efforts. These regions are developing within the larger trading blocks and are growing around common history, culture, industry or clearly identifiable mutual advantage.
