1st Edition

International Trade and Developing Countries Bargaining Coalitions in GATT and WTO

By Amrita Narlikar Copyright 2003
    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    How and why do countries bargain together in world affairs? Why are such coalitions crucial to developing nations? What effects do these blocs have on world affairs?

    This new study asks and answers these key questions, showing why successful coalition building is a difficult and expensive process: allies need to be carefully identified, large numbers do not always mean a proportionate increase in influence. The weak have the choice of teaming up against or jumping on the bandwagon with the strong. Even after it has been organized, collective action entails costs of many kinds.

    This book also investigates the relevance and workability of coalitions as an instrument of bargaining power for the weak. More specifically, it analyzes the coalition strategies of developing countries at the inter-state level, particularly in the context of international trade.

    Given the nature of this enquiry, this new study uses theoretical and empirical methods to complement each other. Through new case-studies of the Uruguay Round and an analytical overview of more recent coalitions, this is an important contribution to international political economy and international relations, where most GATT/WTO-based coalitions have eluded record.

    This book will be of great interest to all students of international relations, politics and globalization.

    Introduction  1. Bargaining Together: Why and How?  2. Coalitions in the GATT and the Entry of Services  3. Bloc Diplomacy: The Informal Group and the G-10  4. Alliance Diplomacy: The Issue-Based, Crossover Coalitions of G-20 and Café au Lait  5. Combination Diplomacy: Issue-Based Blocs and Sub-Sectoral Crossover Coalitions  6. Evolved Alliances: The Cairns Group and Friends of Services Group  7. Regionalism: A Springboard for Bargaining?  8. Coalitions of the New Round: Developing Countries at Seattle and Doha  9. Conclusion

    Biography

    Amrita Narlikar is Lecturer at the Centre of International Studies, University of Cambridge; Senior Research Associate at the Centre for International Studies, University of Oxford; member of the Economic Negotiations Network based at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles and the Latin American Trade Network, Buenos Aires.

    "This is an important and insightful book of great interest to anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of the past, present and future negotiating rounds, as well as developing country coalition behaviour in other international arenas."

    Dr Sean W. Burges, University of Wales, Aberystwyth. International Affairs, October 2004, Vol. 80, Issue 5

    "In a nutshell, for everyone interested in understanding how the coalitions of developing countries should be devised and work in negotiations within WTO issues in special Trade in Services, this book is essential reading."

    Rogerio de Souza Farias University of Brasilia, Brazil. Political Studies Review, 2004 2 (3), 414-439

    "Narlikar's book is a sophisticated and well written analysis that represents a significant contribution to the literature on international trade negotiations."

    Professor Wyn Grant, University of Warwick, UK. Review of International Studies, 2004, Vol. 30, 537-544

    "Narlikar’s book is an impressively rigorous and informed study of the role and efficacy of bargaining coalitions, especially but not exclusively of developing countries, for trade negotiations in both the GATT (especially the Uruguay Round) and the WTO (up to Doha). The book is written in an accessible style and provides a valuable addition to the collection of anybody interested in multilateral trade negotiations."

    Oliver Morrissey, University of Nottingham, UK, Journal of International Development, 2005, Vol. 17, 695–711