Trade blocs as actors in the international trade order: The political economy of common economic foreign policy and inter-bloc trade agreements

To summarise the underlying research question, I aim at understanding why plurilateral trade blocs increasingly negotiate PTAs on their own; under what conditions they negotiate inter-regional
PTAs instead of resorting to bilateral agreements; and whether inter-regionalism is becoming an alternative to stalling multilateral negotiations. This research proposal will bring forward the argument that inter-regional PTAs and negotiations of such treaties are qualitatively different from bilateral PTAs and require a focus on their internal political and economic dynamics in order to understand their foreign economic policy. Further, it will
argue that the stalling multilateral Doha round has incentivised plurilateral trade blocks to increasingly act on their own as well as that, notwithstanding the depth of integration, the internal composition of
trade blocs is the most significant determinant of the formation of a common foreign economic policy. Moreover, it will bring forward the argument that increased capacity to act uniformly as a trade bloc
reduces incentives to seek compromise in multilateral trade negotiations, namely the WTO's Doha round.