What will be the future of US trade policy? On the campaign trail, tapping into public resentment of the free trade policies of the Clinton and Bush years, Obama said he would chart a new course. But with his selection of Ron Kirk--a NAFTA supporter--to serve as the 16th US Trade Representative many are wondering where Obama's interests lie ("I didn't take on this job to complete the third term of George Bush's trade agenda," Kirk recently told the Dallas Morning News to reassure Obama supporters that his vision of free trade differs from that of the previous administration). 

Lori Wallach, Director of Public Citizen Global Trade Watch, says that if she had Kirk's ear she'd tell him to deliver on the president's promise to re-negotiate US trade and globalization policies.