Agreeing to have an agreement is half the battle on the Doha Round

■"New aim of trade talks: lowering expectations; Far apart on grand plan, negotiators may put off the most divisive issues," by Scott Miller and Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck, Wall Street Journal Europe, 9 November 2005, p. 1.

■"EU 'will not open farm markets further,'" by Frances Williams and Krishna Guha, Financial Times, 8 November 2005, p. 7.

■"The Boys in Brazil," editorial, Wall Street Journal Europe, 9 November 2005, p. 15.

■"Outsourcing gets closer to home with CAFTA: Trade deal creates 'nearsourcing,'" by Danna Harman, USA Today, 9 November 2005, p. 6A.

Yes, the WTO will not make the Doha Round end on time. Frankly, it's never finished a round on time, but finish it the negotiators do, but connectivity drives the code. Doha is the "most far-reaching and complex trade round ever undertaken."

Yes, players on all sides want assurances that what they give up will be balanced by what they gain, and that fear is as pronounced in Europe as it is in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The leaders is this process will surprise us, because it will be New Core players like India, China and Brazil that will drive this process as much or more than the established Old Core types in Europe, America and Japan. Guys like Brazil's Lula de Silva will prove to be the most practical of leftists, not unlike a Clinton. These guys know the real fear of poverty, and the real power of hope.

And so the deal will get done, and on that basis we'll see renewed movement on efforts within the Western Hemisphere.

It'll happen in the Western Hemisphere because connectivity needs code, and code is what gets you foreign direct investment, the glue that holds the global economy together.

CAFTA begins and Caribbean states now tout themselves as the "new Asia," or the outsourcing target that's close enough to keep an eye on.

And it's working. The region pulls in $2 billion in foreign investments last year, up dramatically about three-fold from before the free trade area was put into effect.

Proximity counts. Same time zones. Just 3-4 hours away by plane. They call it "nearsourcing." And then there's all that bilingual population.

Yes, yes, press #2 for nearsourcing.