WTO Crisis through the Lens of Hegemony Theories: When International Trade Law and Geopolitics Collide

The liberal trade order that prevailed after World War II is shifting to an order where major powers increasingly intervene to secure political, economic, and technological gains – in a dynamic that results in a deep crisis of the WTO and the retreat of globalization. Whereas International Trade Law-centred analysis points out that this phenomenon occurs due to faults in the WTO legal framework, the assessment of the issue through the lens of Hegemony Theories indicate that the roots of the crisis stand in the ongoing process of hegemonic transition since the U.S. – the traditional patron of free trade, perceive such order as beneficial to China, which is the emerging power that has been grasping huge advantages from international trade. International regimes and the institutions that govern it are forged by the hegemons’ leadership and largely reflect their preferences. Consequently, the emergence of a new challenger and the hegemon declining power tend to cause disruptions in the prevailing order. Policy recommendations to overcome the WTO crisis must benefit from the insights from Hegemony Theories.

Declining hegemony and the sources of Trump’s disengagement from multilateral trade governance: the interaction between domestic politics and the international political economy

As a result of the economic and political rise of China and Trump’s decision to undermine the liberal international order, theories of hegemony have regained center stage in both policy-oriented and scholarly debates. Yet, a careful analysis of the evolution of the US foreign policy strategy in the realm of international trade politics reveals that traditional theories of hegemonic decline are ill-equipped to account for both the timing and the content of the Trump administration’s behavior in this issue area. This paper argues in favor of integrating structural theories of hegemonic transition/stability with an analysis of the domestic sources of trade policy preferences. To do so, we draw on the International Political Economy literature highlighting how the domestic political process triggered by the dynamics of international economic competition combined with structural forces in shaping the timing and content of the Trump administration’s disengagement from the existing multilateral trade governance structures.

Contemporary China and the “Harmonious” World Order in the Age of Globalization

This paper examines the Chinese political vision of the world order and how the West has, so far, reacted to the presence of a new rising power in the global system. It takes inspiration from the current complex international scenario of confrontation between China and the West. The concept of socialist “harmonious” world order is not a political creative idea, but the long-term vision proposed by China since the beginning of this century. It has become topic of political interest, attracting the attention of the Western world, only in the last decade and in connection with the theoretical debate inspired by the power transition theory. The idea of a hegemonic transition and the making of a new international order, as alternative to the liberal democratic model, is gaining consistency with the economic development and the growing political influence of China, but also as consequence of the retreat of democracy worldwide.